Is Middle College High School’s school color purple or red? Does the lack of a definite school color impact our school spirit? The absence of school spirit at MCHS has been an ongoing conversation. The Associated Student Body (ASB) has attempted to lift school spirit with countless activities and events.While students do participate in these events, it does not seem to be the majority of the population.
As members of the Dance Team, this problem at our school became vivid at the first assembly after our performance. The crowd was not as cheerful as we had anticipated, considering our goal as the MCHS Dance Team is to bring fun and excitement to school events. We have continuously recognized this issue throughout the school year, especially at events ASB holds.
ASB organizes many events regularly throughout the school year including school assemblies, nooners, spirit weeks, and class socials. These activities are meant to provide students with excitement and spirit, especially to attract the new classes. While there are new and upcoming events to excite the student population, it is noticeable that the student body remains unfazed.
Kaekoa Corona, ASB Vice President, talks about her thoughts on the school spirit at our school.
“I feel like right now our school spirit is half and half. So I know ASB does a great job at hyping up the school, and I know we try. It’s just more of outside ASB getting a couple of people to get out of their comfort zone and show school spirit,” Corona said.
ASB relies heavily on student participation to ensure school spirit is evident in school events and rallies. While ASB is trying its best to hype up the student body with fun activities and events, some do not find them intriguing.
Sophomore Gustavo Martinez shares his view on why he thinks some students choose not to participate in school-spirited events.
“I just feel like it comes down to nerves since you’re kind of going to do it in front of everybody, which sometimes people have social anxiety, so they rather not be in front of the public’s eyes,” Martinez said.
Participating in assembly and nooner games can be nerve-wracking, especially for students who are not familiar with being in front of big crowds. This poses a challenge for ASB when searching for participants as many hesitate to volunteer.
Social media also plays an important role in spreading the word about events ASB hosts. TikTok and Instagram are the two most popular platforms ASB utilizes to announce upcoming events. While they are using both platforms to their fullest potential, some address the concerns of those who do not use social media.
Senior Yamileth Sarabio speaks about a possible idea for promoting the school events to the student body.
“I like seeing the Instagram posts about everything, but if people don’t have social media, it’s kind of hard to know what is going on and when. They might just want to participate in the spirit week, but they might not have social media to watch out for the news about it. I feel like if there were more posters around the school that make it obvious that school spirit was happening then I think more people would be participating in it.” Sarabio said.
Cost is a significant factor that often prevents the student body from attending dances or events such as spirit weeks. The dances often range from 20 to 60 dollars, which affects the attendance of the student body because some can not afford it. Spirit weeks also lack participation because students do not have the time or money to go out and find something to wear to match the theme.
Junior Stephanie Camilo gives her opinion on how cost affects students’ participation in ASB events.
“I definitely think that cost is an issue. Dances can be pretty expensive and for a non-working student, that can be pricey. I do understand that prices have to go high sometimes for funding, but if ASB could make it more accessible to students, that would be nice. And that way, students would feel more willing to attend the dances and worry less about the prices,” Camilo said.
Regarding the cost issue, Corona speaks on how she wishes she could change the budget of MCHS to make dances and other activities accessible to students.
“I feel like [improving] the school budget would be amazing. If we can get more money towards it, it would be able to help make so many events probably free of cost. I know that’s a big thing, like attending events, it may be pricey…So if we can make events, preferably free, that would be amazing.” she said.
We asked President Ariena Molina what she would do to increase student unity if she were to have a magic wand.
“If I had a magic wand, I would create a whole new campus just for MCHS, like adding our own gym where we can do whatever we want, adding our own football field, adding a better building, and just upgrading MCHS itself,” she said.
With the topic of school spirit being an ongoing conversation at MCHS, Molina gives her personal thoughts on the student body’s school spirit.
“I wanted to tell the students that the school spirit begins with you, not by others. So it starts with you. Whether you have the school spirit yourself, you shouldn’t be influenced by others. Be your own person, and show your own uniqueness,” Molina said.
