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Other activities to look forward to include an advisory rally on Tuesday, a Thursday lunchtime rally on the football field, Jar Wars and a reformed system for assigning points, Associated Student Body President Chirag Krishna said. He added that as always, the homecoming football game and dance top this eventful week off.
Float building on Saturday runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will continue on Sunday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Palo Alto High School. Both days will feature pizza and music, according to Krishna.
The floats will be completed Thursday evening with a barbeque hosted by Paly parents, Krishna said. Should it rain over the weekend, ASB plans to push float building back to begin on Monday and continue through Wednesday.
ASB attributes float building coordination to engineering tech teacher Doug Bertain.
“A big shout out to the Doug Bertain for assisting with the floats,” Krishna said. “He approved each float plan and made a list of materials for each class. Robotics and theater tech will also be helping with float building.”
Spirit Week rallies will begin with the lunchtime rally on Monday and conclude with an after school rally before the homecoming game on Friday, according to Launer.
An advisory rally on Tuesday in the big gym will replace usual morning rally on Thursday, as the morning rally is no longer possible with the new bell schedule, according to Krishna.
“The advisory rally is effectively the same thing [as the morning rally],” Krishna said.
In addition to the advisory rally, ASB has made several changes to the traditional lunchtime rallies this year.
Monday’s rally will consist of a musical chairs game, best dressed contest, cheer competition and a balloon stomp.
For Tuesday, ASB has planned a sumo wrestling game along with an eating competition. Spirit Week T-shirts will be available for pick-up at lunch on the quad and in the Student Activities Office after school, according to Senior Class President Jack Smale.
Continuing a tradition started last year, the Wednesday lunch rally will be at the pool, with swimmers from each class participating in various relay races.
Unlike previous years, the lunchtime rally on Thursday will take place on the track with hula hoop and tug-of-war contests. These events have been moved from their traditional spot during the Friday after school rally. As a result, the Friday after school rally will only consist of the spirit dances, class floats and a cheer-off.
“The fire alarm last year moved the rally to the football field, so we decided to keep it,” Krishna said. “With the new schedule, students get out at 3:25 p.m., giving us less time on Friday [for the after school rally]. We moved the hula-hoop and tug-of-war [contests] because we have a tight schedule on Friday.”
Furthermore, the points system has been concretely defined this year, specifically for the floats, dances and class cheers, according to Krishna.
“[Senior Class Vice President] John Brunett worked on reforming the Spirit Week point system,” Krishna said. “We established guidelines for cheers. The vague parts [of the point system] were clarified.” For instance, ASB now has a criterion that specifies what constitutes a “negative cheer,” according to Krishna.
The points will be rewarded by a group of four teachers from a different department each day judging each class’s performance at the rallies, Spirit Commissioner George Brown said. Extra judges will be present for the after school rally on Friday.
Another new addition will be Jar Wars, sponsored by the YCS and approved by ASB, according to Krishna. Classes will earn points by putting coins in their jars, while bills placed in other class’s jars will subtract points from their total, Krishna said. The money will help fund the Community Service Day held on March 31 in honor of Cesar Chavez, according to Launer.
Concluding Spirit Week will be the homecoming game and dance on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The homecoming game on Friday features the Vikings against Homestead High School and will showcase the floats, homecoming court and winning dance performance during halftime, Brown said.
The homecoming dance that concludes the festivities begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and students should come in costume to match the theme of Halloween, Brown said.
“Spirit points are added for attendance at the dance,” Brown said. “The winning class will be announced on Saturday during the dance.”
Krishna hopes the efforts of not only ASB but also other contributors will pay off throughout the course of the week.
“People are working hard,” Krishna said. “Even people not on ASB are helping on cheers. All students should participate [in Spirit Week] because it’s good for the Paly community.”
The themes for each day of the week are listed below:
Monday: Class Themes
Freshmen: Tony the Tiger
Sophomores: America
Juniors: Pirates Treasure
Seniors: 90’s
Tuesday: Salad Dressing
Freshmen: Healthy Choice
Sophomores: Ranch
Juniors: Thousand Island
Seniors: Ceasar
Wednesday: Class Colors
Freshmen: Orange
Sophomores: Red
Juniors: Yellow
Seniors: Green
Thursday: Generations
Freshmen: Babies
Sophomores: Teeny Boppers
Juniors: Sophisticates
Seniors: Senior Citizens
Friday: Paly Spirit
Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors: Green
Seniors: Camouflage
Editor’s Note: News Editor Cee-Ning Wong contributed reporting to this story.