Breaking: Spirit Week scale-backs confirmed

Brennen Ho, Benjamin Grimes, and Sophia Yang
September 20, 2022

The Class of 2022 celebrates after answering a trivia question during last year’s Spirit Week rallies. According to a Schoology post by Student Activities Director Steven Gallagher, this year’s Spirit Week rallies are being partially reduced and replaced with lunchtime activities on the Quad. “It [the decision] is a combination of factors,” Gallagher said. “Logistics is big, and the culture of this competition was an issue as well.” (Photo: Jonathan Chen)

Spirit Week rallies have been reduced, with Monday and Tuesday rallies being replaced by best-dressed activities on the Quad, according to a Tuesday Schoology post from Palo Alto High School Student Activities Director Steven Gallagher.

Paly administration did not give the Associated Student Body a chance to provide input on the decision, and information regarding rally scale-backs has not been communicated to the student body aside from Schoology.

According to Senior Class President Ashley Hung, the Spirit Week scale-backs were decided entirely by the administration.

“ASB had no say in the final decision, but given recent events, I understand administration’s decision,” Hung said. “We’re already fortunate to have more rallies than our neighboring schools. While it may be disappointing news, I hope our students can make the most out of the week, while respecting each other and keeping one another safe.”

In previous years, Spirit Week has usually had around five or six rallies. In light of the recent chaos at the Sept. 9 Paly vs. Henry M. Gunn High School football game, administration have been considering Spirit Week scale-backs as a consequence for students.

According to Gallagher, the decision to cancel the Monday and Tuesday rallies was in part due to misbehavior from the previous years’ rallies as well as the unsanctioned egg fights tradition.

“We decided to tone down Spirit Week because of the competition,” Gallagher said. “[The] rally last year got out of hand, and you know, eggs were being thrown, ASB were being targeted by the crowd. So we decided we needed to turn it back.”

Additionally, ASB had reduced time to plan for the rallies as a result of repercussions resulting from the Paly vs. Gunn football game.

“Because ASB had to deal so much with the aftermath of the [Paly vs. Gunn] game, we lost valuable planning time,” Gallagher said. 

According to ASB spirit commissioner Evie Kramer, students will still have opportunities to be spirited.

“Spirit is wonderful, [but] I think it’s important to be aware when our spirit is no longer an appropriate thing for the community,” Kramer said.

The remaining Spirit Week rallies are scheduled to be held Wednesday during lunch in the Peery Center, Thursday during lunch on the football field, and Friday after school on the football field.