A week of school spirit, fun, collaboration and unity is about to come out in full swing at Palo Alto High School this week from Monday through Friday.
Spirit Week, an annual tradition organized by the Associated Student Body, pits grades against each other in friendly competition. Classes can earn points through winning “best-dressed” competitions on the Quad during brunch, attending rallies during lunch and participating in dress-up themes. Points will also be awarded based on Friday’s final presentation of the floats, which will be built between the Peery Family Center and the science building every day after school until 7 p.m.
According to ASB junior class president Kelly Tanaka, this year’s Spirit Week will consist of several new rallies and activities in an effort to ramp up student participation and excitement.
“We have more indoor rallies, more outdoor rallies and more games,” Tanaka said. “We’re hoping this year we’ll be more spirited than ever.”
“Best-dressed” activities are scheduled to take place at brunch from Monday through Thursday on the Quad, where classes will showcase their costumes and let judges decide whose outfits are the most spirited. Lunches will feature both indoor and outdoor rallies and games from Monday through Thursday, with the final rally taking place after school on Friday.
The spirit week themes are as follows:
Monday (Theme Day):
- Freshmen: Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
- Sophomores: Super Mario Bros
- Juniors: Pirates
- Seniors: Y2K
- Teachers: Pajamas
Tuesday (Salad Dressing Day):
- Freshmen: Healthy Choice
- Sophomores: Ranch
- Juniors: Green Goddess
- Seniors: Caesar
- Teachers: Honey Mustard
Wednesday (Class Color Day):
- Freshmen: Orange
- Sophomores: Red
- Juniors: Yellow
- Seniors: Green
- Teachers: Blue
Thursday (Generations Day):
- Freshmen: Babies
- Sophomores: Teeny Boppers
- Juniors: Professional/Career
- Seniors: Senior Citizens
- Teachers: Zombies
Friday (Green & White Day):
- 9th-11th and Teachers: Green and white
- Seniors: Camo
Junior Lucy Kristofferson said she has already prepared her outfits for the dress-up themes.
“I have all my stuff — I bought a giant parrot [for the pirates dress-up theme],” Kristofferson said. “I’m really going to go all-out this year. Last year was fun, but I didn’t go all out for it, and I want to go for it this year. It’s more fun.”
Junior Noam Avital echoed this sentiment, saying he is looking forward to the juniors’ Generations Day and Class Color Day dress-up themes.
“I might do the Generations Day because I already have stuff for that and I’ll probably do the Color Day because that’s always easy [to dress up for],” Avital said.
According to senior Sophia Lee, she is also looking forward to dressing up for Spirit Week.
“I’m really excited for it because I’m a senior now, and I feel like that makes everything more spiced up,” Lee said. “Monday is Y2K for us and that’s a pretty good theme, because I have a lot of outfits for that.”
New to Paly’s Spirit Week traditions, freshman Ryan Saket said he hopes his class will come out on top by the end of the week.
“I’ve heard that it [Spirit Week] is really fun and that a lot of people get really spirited, especially the seniors,” Saket said. “I’ve also heard that the freshmen don’t win very often, so hopefully that changes this year.”
According to Saket, he is most excited about the homecoming football game.
“I’m looking forward the most to the homecoming game at the end of the week as it’s like a nice time to hang out with friends and watch the football game,” Saket said.
Senior Elise Teofan said she is looking forward to being more active this Spirit Week.
“I think this year we [the senior class] will be much better because I’m a senior, and I have more openness and motivation to participate more in the dance and activities,” Teofan said.
According to Tanaka, students should participate in the dress-up themes and cheer in the rallies to help their class win Spirit Week.
“Spirit Week is definitely one of the best weeks of the year,” Tanaka said. “It’s definitely a really lasting memory, being able to go to rallies, being able to do all these fun games [and] float building. I really encourage everyone to just try [participating in Spirit Week].”
