For the first time in Townsend Harris High School history, the Student Union and The Classic partnered to create a virtual spirit week. From April 13 to April 19, THHS students had the opportunity to show off their school spirit while still practicing social distancing from home. The event took place during an enrichment week which replaced the formerly scheduled Spring Recess. All participants were featured by the official accounts of The Classic and the Student Union through Instagram stories.
Along with the virtual spirit week, students also received the opportunity to enter a giveaway. These students entered by posting their participation in Spirit day through Instagram stories, tagging both The Classic and the Student Union Instagram handles, following these accounts, and liking the spirit post of the day. The seven randomly selected winners for each spirit day were announced on the following Monday afternoon and received $10 gift cards as prizes.
During the virtual spirit week, the days included were significantly different compared to those of a typical spirit week. Monday was Get Dressed Day, where students and faculty were encouraged to dress up in clothes that were fancier than their at-home attire, despite being quarantined. Tuesday was Pajama Day, which was one of the more popular days of the week. Wednesday was THHS Pride Day, where the THHS community wore their Townsend Harris merchandise. On Thursday, students posted TikToks for TikTok Day. The app has gotten very popular over the social distancing period. Friday’s Self-Care Day also highlighted several ways students are relieving stress during these uncertain times. Movie Day and Art Day were the first school spirit days to occur on a weekend. Each of these days brought their own flair to spirit week, catered for student participation and enjoyment.
Many students highlighted enjoyable experiences associated with spirit week. “Either self-care day or art day was my favorite. Self-care promoted taking care of your mental and physical health and was relaxing while art day promoted all types of art, which I think is beautiful and gave students a chance to do something they enjoy,” said freshman Emily Lu. Freshman Arietta Xylas agreed, “ Art day [was my favorite] because people’s art was so amazing and very beautiful to see displayed.”
Although most students had a positive view of the virtual spirit week, a few students addressed that the virtual spirit week wasn’t the same as our regular spirit week in school. Senior Samantha Lee described, “It doesn’t feel right to participate [in spirit week] virtually.”
Nevertheless, others thought it was a great way to spice up the enrichment week and uplift students during these times. Sophomore Raquel Mulakandov expressed, “I enjoyed spirit week because it was fun to see everybody put their little twists on each of the spirit days.” Arietta concluded, “I thought it was a really [great] way to lighten the mood of everything.”
