In the past year, the overall opinion of our school has seemed to change dramatically. A few years ago, we used to go on Facebook and see comments about how much everyone hates our school. Lately, it seems like the common opinion has been just the opposite. Instead of complaining, students are finally realizing all of the great things about our school.

As we talked about in our second issue, the Class Cup competition was a catalyst for school spirit; it got the ball rolling. Instead of tearing down Homecoming decorations, students came in on their own time to put them up. We are starting to realize that we’re fortunate to be students at this school and we hope that the positive school pride continues to last.

We believe this increase in school spirit and event participation is partly due to the involvement and leadership of our upperclassmen. From sending out mass texts to posting on class-wide Facebook groups, the communication factor has been a major component in school spirit.

Take the boys and girls state basketball tournaments last weekend as an example. The overflowing buses of students driving an hour to support their school was by far more than we have ever seen standing in the bleachers before. Maybe part of the excitement came due to the success of our teams. But at the same time, some may argue that the success of our sports teams was partly a result of the excitement of our fans.

Although the freshmen wouldn’t know this, our staff feels that the school was struggling last year in terms of school spirit. If you weren’t here last year, take it from us: this year has been incredibly exciting and spirited. For this, we also want to give some credit to administration. As students, we’re starting to feel that the administration is supporting us and on our side. This change in attitude has greatly impacted students’ perception of the school. Instead of viewing it as a “the school vs. the students,” we have started to come together as a community.