During the week of Apr. 25, Schreiber students displayed their school spirit by wearing clothing and props relating to the theme of the day, following one’s grade.  With most restrictions lifted, the administrators and the Executive Student Council decided it was time for school spirit activities to resume. To students, the return of these in-person events signalizes a huge step forward in the recovery from the pandemic.

“This year’s Spirit Week was truly magical.  Seeing so many students actively engaged in dressing up for the theme days and coming to the main lobby to earn points for their grade was great.  The Pep Rally was a wonderful celebration of the return of Spirit Week after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19,” said Ms. Lauren Foster-Holzer. 

Originally planned for the week of Apr. 4, Spirit Week was postponed until after the break, primarily because of location changes for Pep Rally, which in the spring is centered around the Battles of the Classes.  In previous years, pep rallies were held in the gymnasium, but this year, the Student Council chose to hold the event outdoors for ventilation purposes.  Among the reasons for the delay was the weather forecast for that week.

“If we were going to hold the Pep Rally outside, we thought it would be better to push it for a date when there would be better weather and not have rainfall,” said senior Jolie Baltic, a member of the Executive Student Council.

Regardless of setbacks, Spirit Week went on.  After two years of virtual and hybrid Spirit Weeks without any pep rallies, students were strongly encouraged to participate on as many days as possible—and many did.

 On the first day of Spirit Week, all students were tasked with dressing up in pajamas.  For the remainder of the week, students wore clothes consistent with their grade’s specific theme.  For Sports Day, the freshmen were assigned to baseball, the sophomores were set with football, the juniors were given basketball, and the seniors were able to pick between tennis or golf.  For Holidays and Festivities Day, the freshmen wore green for St. Patrick’s Day, the sophomores showed off their red and pink for Valentine’s Day, the juniors dressed warm enough for the winter holidays, and the seniors wore red, white, and blue in recognition of the Fourth of July and other patriotic festivities.  Lastly, on Apr. 28, the day of the Pep Rally, freshmen and juniors dressed up in white, and sophomores and seniors came in blue; white and blue are the official school colors of Paul D. Schreiber High School.  To earn points and  help their grade win each of the day’s themed competitions, students signed in at desks in the main lobby during lunch hours.  On Apr. 29, no Spirit Day activities were conducted as the annual Shakespeare Day program was reserved for that day.

 From Apr. 25-27, students were able to sign up for Pep Rally activities and compete against students from other grades.  For students to compete, they had to sign up for one of the competitions in their assistant principal’s office.  One of the activities was the Really Rad Relay, which included the army crawl, egg on the spoon, and relay races.  The traditional tug of war contest between different grades was also conducted.  Teacher judges for the competitions were Ms. Cotter, Ms. Barbarino, Ms. Le Claire, Mr. Faraday, and Mr. Jacaruso.  Mr. Donado, Ms. Noga, Mr. Johnson, and Ms. Wilding helped run and supervise the event, as did Ms. Foster-Holzer and Ms. Dietz, co-advisors for the Student Council.

During Spirit Week, ten points were awarded for each student that dressed up, and fifty points were awarded for staff who did the same.  The points for the Pep Rally games varied depending on the game.  At the end of the day, the senior class emerged victorious with a final Spirit Week score of 5,605 points.  The freshmen ranked second place with a final score of 4,015 points, sophomores had a final score of 2,660 points, and the juniors, historically recognized for their low rankings in prior Spirit Weeks, scored 2,390 points to finish last.

“I was thoroughly impressed with student participation in the Pep Rally.  It was exceptionally well-attended and all of the students seemed to ‘be into it’ as well as enjoying the excitement the afternoon brought.  I think that everyone was very ready for it after almost two years of COVID-19 restrictions. The energy levels of the students and faculty were outstanding,” said Interim Principal Mr. John Lewis.

Students and staff alike were eager to participate in Spirit Week and the Pep Rally, and the events were celebrations of the school’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.