“Give me a G!” *Crickets chirping.* “Give me an R!” *Crickets chirping.* “Give me a C!” *Crickets chirping.* Is anyone out there?

School spirit is an essential component to the high school experience. Without pride in your school, the hearts in our hallways become lackluster.

High school is a time for teenagers to find out who they are and where they belong. Being involved in your school activities help guide you through four of the most crucial years in your life – years that will build your character.

No matter the sport, club, or organization you support, they all play a respectable role at GRC. The opportunities to be a part of something are endless.

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, students who possess enthusiasm for their school are generally more engaged with their peers and community; those who are more deeply spirited tend to perform better academically as well.

To have school spirit doesn’t mean you’re the captain of every team or the president of every club or even on a team or in a club at all.

School spirit is measured in the amount of support you offer and the attitude you carry.

The more positive attitude you have, the more involved you will desire to be. When it comes to developing a united student body, participation is key.

Students have to be willing to buy into the idea that yes, school spirit IS COOL.

To develop school wide involvement, there needs to be an incentive. The fuel for students to want to participate should come in the form of a competition among grade levels.

For example, when we have a GRC Spirit Day we could turn that into a competition of which grade level has the best turnout – freshmen in white, sophomores in red, juniors in black and seniors decked out in all three.

With this in action, when the grade levels intermingle in the hallways, a sense of unity would pop greater than ever before, as we are a sea of representation for our school colors.

We don’t have the facility large enough to host a pep rally including everyone so we have to make due with what we have instead of reiterating the fact that we don’t have a full gymnasium. To work around that, we could do pep rallies by grade level.

The freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors each would get their own allotted time to get rowdy in the space that we do have.

This would give students the feeling of pep rallies in the best way we can. This would again incorporate the excitement of a competition among grade levels. They could compete for a Spirit Stick based on turnout, apparel, and volume in the gym, a.k.a. rowdiness!

The high school experience is something special because everyone has to go through it, but everyone will experience it differently.

We owe it to each other to support and encourage in everything we do to ensure that each person’s story is one worth telling. These are the days we are going to remember – the photographs, the laughs, and the experiences.

In order to have a truly memorable time here, school spirit has to be a priority and a value we all share. It is important; it does matter.