Students from all grades at Palo Alto High School are showing their class pride through best-dressed activities as they push into the second half of Spirit Week. 

As a result of the chaos from the Sept. 9 Paly-Gunn football game, Paly administrators and the Associated Student Body replaced the usual daily lunchtime spirit rallies with the best-dressed Quad activities.

According to junior Austin Eng, Spirit Week is a good opportunity for students to express their creativity and take a break from the typical school day. 

“I think it’s a good outlet just to have fun and just to be able to dress in a super wacky, different, fun way and be appreciated for it, especially during a week where it would otherwise be mundane and boring,” Eng said. 

Junior Jack Shinghal said students should participate in Spirit Week to show school support and many students have been putting in more effort into dressing up this year.

“It’s important to show your school spirit and I think it [Spirit Week] is a great opportunity for people to have a little fun and relieve some stress,” Shinghal said. “This year a lot of students are trying harder and there’s overall a lot more spirit.”

Senior Dalia Antebi said the best dressed Quad activities are still a good alternative to demonstrate class spirit, and a lot of her outfit ideas come from clothing she already owns.

“I have an older sister who’s one year older than me, so I get a bunch of stuff from her,” Antebi said. “But most of this is just stuff that I had, like I’m wearing my Paly Robotics socks and this is just a shirt that I had.”

Many students, including sophomore Kayla Kristenson, view Spirit Week as a chance to come together as a grade and build community.

“It [Spirit Week] has been really fun,” Kristenson said. “It really unites us as a grade, [and] I think our grade level has a lot more spirit than we did last year.”

After almost getting outranked in spirit points by last year’s freshman class, Eng said he anticipates that the junior class will showcase more spirit this year.  

“I think our grade has struggled a little bit with their spirit,” Eng said. “There are no excuses, but I hope that in the future, maybe this year or next year, we can up our spirit and improve it to live up to the upperclassman standard.”

All photos by Daniel Garepis-Holland