The Jaguar Spirit Stick, new to the feeder elementary schools, will be awarded to the class that wears the most Mill Valley spirit wear on days of home football games.

Each student of the winning class receives one free admission to a home football game, including a free hot dog and drink. At Prairie Ridge Elementary School, Kelly Margheim’s third grade class won the very first Jaguar Spirit Stick.

Third grader Mia Modrcin, a student from Margheim’s class, was really happy that her class was awarded Spirit Stick, but at first she was scared “because [principal Michelle] Hite called us down and I thought we were in trouble.”

Football coach Joel Applebee thinks it will be a great way to help the elementary schools become more involved with Mill Valley.

“It was just an idea to bring a sense of community from the elementary schools to the middle schools to the high schools,” Applebee said. “We want [the elementary students] to get excited about the different events we have here at the high school and about being excited to come to these events and being part of the community.”

Yet, Applebee admits that the Spirit Stick wasn’t all his idea.

“I kind of stole it from Derby,” he said. “They have been doing it for years. It’s a great tradition.”

Applebee hopes that the Spirit Stick will help elementary students become more excited to be a part of the future Jaguar family.

“It’s not necessarily about football,” he said. “You wear Jaguar spirit wear and … it’s just about getting everybody excited about being a Jaguar.”

Applebee looks forward to the tradition continuing for years to come, as the elementary schools have been very excited about it. At the end of the week, Margheim’s class will have to pass it onto the next class that displays the most Jaguar spirit wear.

When Modrcin was asked if she thought her class was going to win the next Spirit Stick, she said, “Yes, I do.”