As the school year goes on, more school events take place, as well as the fun-filled weeks of school spirit where students can dress up in unique clothes, participate in fun games and have a great experience.

Dimond High School is known for having a lot of school spirit, but as the students get older, does the number of participants in Spirit Week increase or decrease?

Dimond High Senior Class President Horojah Jawara said, “I definitely think we do [have school spirit]. If you go to games, assemblies and stuff like that you see a lot of people decked out.

“That is just my favorite thing about Dimond, people are just very comfortable with being spirited.”

Although we are a very spirited school, it seems grade level may be a factor in how many students participate in spirit days.

Most students believe the senior class has the most spirit while the freshmen class has the least.

Jawara said, “Seniors [have the most spirit], for sure. It is always kind of the freshmen [with the least spirit]. Which isn’t surprising, because they’re still kind of new, but this year they’re getting better.”

Teleita Filise, a junior at Dimond High School said, “I think it kind of depends what class you are. The freshmen they’re like, okay with [school spirit]. Sophomores and juniors don’t really seem to participate in it. But seniors are good with it, I think because it’s their last year.”

Dimond High Sophomore Daisy Knight said, “I believe our school genuinely has a lot of spirit. I believe the class with the most spirit would most likely be between the sophomores or juniors. The least may be the freshmen.”

Although school spirit is not exactly an issue for Dimond High School, some students think there are ways to increase the numbers even more.

Jasmine Atkinson, a Dimond High School freshman said, “I think that there is room for improvement for school spirit. Some things that might help increase school spirit could be offering prizes or more teachers offering a few points of extra credit when you are involved.”

Filise said, “I think they should do more different days. Like Nike versus Adidas, everyone does that. Just a day more people can participate in.”

Ailyne Chheng, a freshman at Dimond High School said, “I think they should have the students make up their own [spirit day idea] and then vote on which one has the most so they would participate more. I feel like that’d be more helpful.”

While all these suggestions may very well increase the number of participants, most students do not know the process of choosing the spirit days.

Jawara, being the student body president, is a part of all the meetings that organize spirit days.

She said, “So we do a whole class thing [in students government], and then our spirit committee gives us a whole bunch of ideas and the whole class can add in their ideas.

“Then, we kind of just vote from there on our top four or five that we get because there is sometimes a maroon and gold one that we do not have to vote on.”

Spirit days are a way students can have fun and take a break from the daily routine once in a while, but what encourages them to participate and what makes some students choose not to?

Knight said, “I try to have as much spirit as I can when there are school spirit days.

“I love being a part of the school’s spirit days and being involved and getting pictures in the yearbook.”

Chheng said, “I cheer and stuff and participate in the games. Sometimes I just get lazy [to dress up], or I forget what the day is and end up remembering later on.”

School, although it may be a dreadful word for some students, has spirit days that can be a fun way to express yourself and have an enjoyable experience in these quick four years of high school.