School spirit at PHS is on oxygen support. Participation in spirit days is mild at best and the bleachers at Witter field are barely half full on Friday nights at football games. Every Friday that our school has a football game at Witter, I build it into my schedule. For me, the Friday night lights aren’t just about sports, or socializing–, I also want to show support for the team and express my pride in attending Piedmont High. I love going to this school and I think having school spirit is a great way to support the community.
I believe this desperate shortage of Piedmont pride is due to several factors. One reason is the size of our school. Having a school population of fewer than 800 students creates for smaller audiences at sporting events. Larger schools have more students who show up to events which in turn motivates more people to show spirit. However, I think our small size can actually be a strength. Instead of athletes just being faces on posters around campus, numbers on the field, or names announced on game days, they’re our classmates. Piedmont’s tight community means that everyone knows everyone. So when you hear about the next big game, don’t go just to go–go because your friends and peers are playing and you want to support them.
When having spirit days or a theme at football games, students aren’t motivated to get creative and participate in the theme. ASB’s idea of having spirit ambassadors is a good initial attempt at motivating students to participate, but it needs to be publicized more universally, like through morning announcements or posters in hallways.
Another factor to the issue is the busy schedule Piedmont student’s face. We’re overbooked, and we sacrifice key high school experiences in the name of academics and resume-building. Although many students have Friday nights off, other sports that play on school nights are completely overlooked when the idea of attending is suggested. Very few students attend the volleyball, tennis and water polo matches, and I think students’ busy schedules are to blame. Students have a lot of homework at this school and commitments to extracurricular activities that prevent them from being able to attend these sporting events on school nights. So next time you’re scheduling your week, try to make room for a home game. Maybe shift studying and homework to Academy or the early afternoon–you might find that experiencing the energy of a home game is well worth it.
And you don’t just have to take my word that spirit is great for the community. An article published by Penn State University discussed the connection between good school spirit having a positive effect on its students. It referenced the Connecticut Association of Schools which says “students with school spirit do more than show support for their school. They perform better academically, are more socially and civically engaged, and are happier in general than their less-spirited peers. What’s more, the majority of principals (92%) feel that high school spirit is tied to high student achievement.” The article also mentions that school spirit tends to bring a more belonging and inviting environment to schools. Students feel more a part of their school community, and evidently spirit is also correlated with higher performance academically–maybe sacrificing study time to make it to that Wednesday night volleyball game is really worth it?
As a school, we need to bring school spirit back whether that be having more rallies or simply wearing purple more often. One concrete solution could be spreading the word of the themes sooner. ASB and Piedmont Athletics on Instagram do a great job of announcing themes to spirit days and sporting events, but I believe if they were announced sooner and more publicly there would be more participation. I have noticed our school is starting to have morning announcements again and also accompanied with a weekly TPH video which talks about recent and upcoming events. I believe these announcements should contain the information needed for upcoming spirit events and sports game themes. If given a week or two extra before spirit weeks such as Homecoming spirit week, students will have more time to plan and put their creatively-thinking heads together for some great spirited ideas. Once there is a trend of participation at our school, it will catch on like wildfire. When we get to the point of which the majority of people are participating and students are highly encouraged to, is when we will have great school spirit at Piedmont.
