Story by Jeovanna Rios
Staff Writer
If you happened to walk around Bishop Amat during Pep Week, the Steve Urkels, fairytale characters and even superheroes that wandered the halls might have surprised some. But one frequent outfit stood out from all the rest throughout each day–the optional uniform.
For many of the non-participants, this was not a punishment from the deans, rather a choice.
Read More Here
What do you think? Do you think that school spirit is an issue at Amat? What would you do to fix this problem? How can students be more "spirited"? What can the school do to boost Amat's pride?
--Nicolette Sarmiento
Comment by Isaac Pelayo:
ReplyDeleteI am a junior at Amat, and one thing i noticed this year, is the lack of school spirit. But there is a reason for that. maybe some students just don’t have the same enthusiasm that the amat student body once had, but one thing we do have this year, are a lot more strict rules. being a catholic school i understand the views the deans have, but when it comes to the point where even the faculty doesn’t agree with many rules, then maybe there is a problem. like turning more than 30 couples away at the homecoming dance (including people from the homecoming court) got many student angry. many of the girls admitted that their uniform skirts are a lot higher than the dress they were actually wearing. so my question would be, why would the school encourage us to attend many amat sponsored activities, yet we would get turned away like the homecoming dance. i feel if the student body feels like there is no winning against the deans, then they will stop with the spirit. i will admit to that. and im sure many others have as well. why bother getting written up or turned away for trying to express school spirit? its better off if we have none at all.
I completely agree with the author of this piece. Even though I'm just a sophomore, I remember that last year's Pep Week was exciting.And it wasn't because of the themes, but because it was exciting to see how people would dress up. This year's pep week had good themes, but it would've been better if people actually dressed up. And yes, I agree...some of this year's themes had difficult standards that were hard to meet. But the least we could do as students is try. It's not like you had to go all out with accessories, but if you had any questions, you could always ask a dean. Its better to show some school spirit, rather than none at all.
ReplyDeleteWhat are some possible ways to increase student participation and spirit?
ReplyDeleteComment by Yzabelle Arias:
ReplyDeleteI am a sophomore at Amat, this year during Pep Week I noticed that a lot of people didn’t dress up. It made me sad to see fellow class mates not participate, especially on the last day of Pep Week. Last year our Lancer spirit was a 9 out of 10, this year I give it a 4. The reason why I give it a 4 is because a lot of people don’t feel that Lancer Magic like we did last year. I don’t blame them, I stopped going to football games because they started getting boring and the Dog Pound was getting smaller and smaller whenever I would go.
I'm a sophomore and I completely agree with this. Last year I remember hearing that the rallies weren't as good as last year. And this year wasn't as good as last year. So they are getting worse. Also, football games used to be the highlight of the week. This year no one goes.
ReplyDeleteI am a senior at Amat class of 2012 and I would have to say it's not that people don't have school spirit but rather that students just stopped caring. For example my freshman year till sophomore year I though or rallies and stuff sucked except for one when the dance team did the whole glow sticks thing and stuff like that junior year was a little better but it was still pretty much the same and this year now that I'm actually apart of and participate in the rallies it has changed my whole view point. Since not all students at amat are involved with the things that are going on in the rallies and such things as that it just seems lame. Same with football games people just stopped caring and stopped going which changes the atmosphere of everything, I remember how full the games use to be and now there empty. If students were more involved with things then I'm sure all of that would change and something that would want students to be involved is by trying to find a common thing that everyone would like or possibly everyone so that they can be more involved and at least have some sort of school spirit
ReplyDeleteThe problem with the situation is the school that isn't doing much to help; no offence to Amat. You won't get a body of spirited students unless the school helps promote it. Where have all the jean days gone? Music at lunch? And wearing class colors for ALL the rallies not just one; or how about why we can't bring banners, pompoms, noisemakers, etc to rallies or even football games. FOOTBALL GAMES. What has this come to. We got from confiscating 99cent-Store beach balls, to robbing the school of any way of showing spirit at all!! I believe the school has gone too far in their perfectionism. It wants to make sure everything is line and under control. Well, Newsflash Amat: positive school spirit is NOT something that can be controlled! Yes, I understand: we may have taken it too far with running into the field and such that football game; but I'm sorry, does it bug anyone else that the random tailgaters who probably don't even go here have more school spirit than the students themselves?! There's a reason that our school spirit is in the failing percentages and it is that the school has confiscated any possible way to have fun at all. You can't take away a toddler's food, blankie, and toys, and then expect him not to cry. The students are the ones suffering here. It's not that we don't want to be spirited, but that we physically can't at our current state. Look at this blog: it is run almost entirely on students who are worried about our school spirit. That in ITSELF should prove that the students are the victims here. So all you teachers who are reading this grammar-faulty comment can roll your eyes, and laugh, and disregard this message completely; but what I'm stressing is that there's NO way that you can expect us to have a schoolwide united spirit in a school in which only have of the student population is proud to be a part of.
ReplyDeleteby angie gonzalez
ReplyDeleteSchool spirit at amat is not like it use to be in the past years. This could different now for several reasons. Our football didnt have the best season but that shouldnt be a reason to not support our school. We as students need to get involved with the school in an little way we can, such as coming to support a sports team or just dressing up when allowed. Well thats just my opinion.
-angie
NicoleCelesteRuiz-
ReplyDeleteThis article is very coincidental to me because I strongly recall saying several times to many people how Amat's school spirit has decreased. Every rally is becoming less and less fun and full of 'pep'..every football game is getting fewer and fewer people that attend. The 'dog pound' used to be packed, and there would have to be two bleacher areas to fit everyone and now, there's more people standing in the In-n-out truck line..School spirit, which is something that makes Amat largely known for, is dying and if our students don't try to become more active and cooperative with our events, it will slowly die out. I am unsure as to what I would do to bring our spirit back, but as of currently, I would attend a lot of the football games to encourage our players and back them up. I also dressed and went all out during our pep week. Since it's my senior year, I am trying to do as much as possible before I leave my Amat family. Other students can start caring and participating more as well. The school can only do so much. They can provide us events and free dress days that allow us to express ourselves.
I definitely agree with the article. School spirit this year has not been very good compared to the previos years. I think part of the reason is we do not do much to promote our games. Most of the games arent announced until the day of the game. I believe if we constantly promote the game that it increases the chances of a bigger student attendance. Another reason we have low spirit is simply because the rules are so strict it sucks the fun out of it. I dont believe there is much we can do to try and get students to go to the games.
ReplyDeleteby trevor mcgee