School spirit forms a sense of community with students, teachers, and administrators
Community Lower School Speech-Language Pathologists Ashley Menchise and Kristen Fallon lead the Lower School’s Spirit Committee. The group was formed two years ago as a way to build school spirit, foster friendships, and build morale.
The group runs spirit days and candy-gram sales. They also decorate the front entrance, plant the spring garden, and hold an end-of-the-year Spirit Awards, which is a red carpet award ceremony and celebration that recognizes the students that have contributed to the Spirit Committee.
For the last two years, we’ve been having each student paint one or more rocks to put in the garden. The students love it! They always request to paint more, and they do fantastic work. It’s made the garden even more colorful and beautiful!” –Ms. Menchise.
The enchanting garden overflows with the students’ creativity. Each homeroom decorates garden stacks that are on display throughout. Students are also recruited to help the Spirit Committee make a mosaic tile with the school year on it.
Ms. Menchise added, “It is truly a representation of the school and a group effort. It has been such a joy doing it these past two years.”
Statistically, students with “school spirit” perform better academically, are more engaged socially, and are happier in general than their less-spirited peers. Our School Spirit activities connect all segments of our student population. School spirit forms a sense of community with students, teachers, and administrators by working together for a common purpose.