A myriad of musicals and early 2000s movies promised a high school experience full of spirited events: proms, homecomings, over-the-top pep rallies, and enough school spirit to make one question whether the students actually attend class.
The reality of IHS has been more geared towards academics, with spirit as an afterthought. While not every aspect of these fictional high schools should be brought into reality (let’s leave getting hit by a bus in Hollywood), the Tattler Editorial Board believes that students deserve a school that supports both their educational and social needs. More than just a staple of American pop culture, school events provide students a low-cost way to socialize, engage in school spirit, foster community, and have fun, without a textbook in sight.
This isn’t to say IHS lacks any trace of social events. Last year’s Fall Festival, Field Day, and pep rallies have demonstrated that the school is more than capable of creating engaging activities. However, many traditions that are central to school spirit elsewhere, from homecoming to more ambitious spirit themes, like Anything but a Backpack Day and Color Wars, remain absent from the IHS calendar. But this is not for lack of trying. Student groups have spent significant time developing proposals, coordinating logistics, discussing ideas with the Board of Education, and organizing funding, only to have their efforts ultimately rejected by administration without explanation. In the instances when these events do come into fruition, they are often only a shell of what they were originally intended to be.
There is nothing inherently wrong with saying no. Administrators have legitimate responsibilities to consider safety, logistics, staffing, and academics. What is concerning, however, is that “no” is treated as the end of the conversation rather than the beginning of a new one. When students are given little explanation beyond a blanket rejection, they have no opportunity to address administrators’ concerns, revise their proposals, or find a compromise. A potential problem should not automatically become a reason to eliminate an event. With adequate preparation, many risks can be mitigated, rules can be established, and compromises can be reached. The Tattler Editorial Board believes that students who invest their time and energy into improving their school deserve more than a closed door.
IHS Ambassador President Maddie Tindall ’27 has experienced this firsthand. As she has worked to increase student activities and on-campus engagement, she says administration has historically provided little explanation for why many proposed initiatives have been rejected, explaining that “a lot of the time it’s just ‘No, and I’m not elaborating on that.’ If they were to elaborate, we could work around [their concerns], but this is just ‘No, and that’s the only word you’re getting.’”
In Tindall’s experience, as she’s tried to plan for increased activities and on-campus engagement, administration has taken a very risk-averse approach in terms of school events. One of the few things that Tindall has received clearly is that administration “doesn’t want to do student competitions because they’re worried that students will take it too far.” Tindall responded with solutions to moderate competition, such as by creating a list of guidelines and implementing repercussions for any violations, to which administration explained that they “[didn’t] want to have to enforce that, so [they’re] just not going to do it at all.”
However, competitions are exactly the events that are likely to get students involved in spirit. Competitions unify groups of students around a common cause, like representing their class, which make them more willing to participate. If administration wants greater turnout for spirit events, they must be willing to rethink their opposition to competitions.
Many of the events that administration has expressed concerns about have been implemented successfully elsewhere. Color Wars and Anything but a Backpack Day, both spirit themes that, according to Tindall, administration has outright rejected, are popular spirit-week traditions at schools across the country. IHS sports teams and music ensembles already use similar competitions and spirit themes, and these activities rarely result in the chaos that haunts administrative hypotheticals. If a small group of students can successfully compete over a color or carry their belongings in something other than a backpack, the entire student body can be trusted to do the same.
As Tindall emphasizes, the students proposing these events are committed to making them work. If administrators clearly articulate their concerns, students can work toward addressing them. And if an event is simply too ambitious to execute at its proposed scale, that does not mean it has to disappear altogether. If a school-wide homecoming dance is not feasible, for example, students and administrators could work together to find a smaller, cheaper venue or alternative format. The choice should not have to be between an elaborate event or no event at all.
And if administration remains concerned, then they should pilot the events. Student groups have already expressed willingness to propose clear rules and repercussions. If something goes wrong, the problem can be identified and the event can be adjusted the next time. This approach would allow administration to make decisions based on what actually happens at IHS rather than what might happen in theory. Taking risks in moderation is essential for the growth of spirit.
Sometimes, the best answer to a student proposal is not “no.” It is “here’s what we’re worried about,” and “how can we make this work?” If administration is constantly dwelling on the hypotheticals, they will never have the opportunity to execute events that energize students, foster community, strengthen school pride, and perhaps bring childhood movie-inspired high school fantasies to life.
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