School pride has seen a revival this year thanks in part to Activity and Athletic Directors Danielle Bowen and Ira Childress. 

The Homecoming dance, which had not been done in years, was a hit event that many students looked forward to due to the extensive promotion of the dance. Spirit week also played an enormous part. Leading up to the dance, students dressed in themed outfits chosen by the student council every day. Counting down to the homecoming dance, students got even more excited waiting to see homecoming proposals and outfits. Instagram accounts such as @gp20_proposals displayed proposals and hyped up Homecoming in general, which encouraged even more students to attend. Activities Director Danielle Bowen, went the distance, trying to make it more appealing to students.

“We decorated the school, hired a great DJ, got two different photo booths and are going to make it a ‘club feel’ with lounge chairs and special accents. This is a great opportunity to make great memories with your friends,” said Bowen.

To support the all-around successful sports teams, administration made an effort to engage students throughout the games and meets, such as having a white-out in a football game and having a free ice cream stand at a swim meet. In one football game, they even gave out props to members of the stands to charge the energy. These changes were successful, and the amount of fans at games grew exponentially.

“When I first got here this year, the first thing they told me to work on was school spirit and in my opinion, it has grown significantly. Students should continue to come out to these events if they want to have a good time in terms of cheering for their team and having an exciting game-day atmosphere, “ said Athletic Director Ira Childress.

Administration and student council have taken notice and taken action on increasing school spirit in order to give students the best high school experience and to help them make memories they can cherish for the rest of their lives. 

“I didn’t really find going to games that interesting last year because I don’t watch football but since I was able to wear my all-black for the black-out so I can post it on my Snapchat, I went and actually had fun,” said junior David Gonzales.