A Definitive Ranking of This Year’s Spirit Week Days

Ah yes, fall. The season of descending leaves, breaking out your hoodies from the depths of your summer closet, and most importantly, Homecoming. From lively throngs of thrilled high schoolers cheering at pep rallies, to divinely (more or less) decorated hallways, Homecoming season is something many high school students look forward to. My personal favorite aspect of Homecoming season is Spirit Week. As someone who loves to dress up for absolutely any and all occasions, I find much joy in participating in these days of dress, and what better way to showcase my appreciation for them than to rank this year’s chosen themes?

5. Tourist Day

Starting off not-so-strong with the day I am least looking forward to. No offense to any Tourist Day enthusiasts, but it’s just not my cup of tea. Honestly, I’ve been a tourist before and I didn’t wear anything out of the norm. Dressing up for Tourist Day would just entail dressing as I do as per usual, which isn’t very fun nor school-spirited, and I’m sure this applies to many other of my peers as well. I feel like there’s not much you could do if you don’t own any of the stereotypical tourist attire, which are just tacky faux Hawaiian button ups and cargo shorts. As the kids say, Tourist Day is just not giving.

4. Class Colors Day

Objectively, this would be really helpful. With the separation of classes by colors, I would finally know what grade people belong to. Some of these freshmen look like they’re supposed to be working on paying back their mortgage rather than learning about the Pythagorean Theorem, while more than a few of the upperclassmen look like they’ve yet to graduate middle school (me). However, while useful, Class Colors day isn’t the most extravagant of days. The most you can do is wear clothing that corresponds to your class colors, with some hand paint adorned on exposed spots on your skin. Unless someone really passionate about representing their graduating class is willing to go the extra mile and dyes their hair or something, I don’t think there is much to be excited about.

3.Pajama Day

Pajama Day is a classic Spirit Week event, and probably the one most people participate in, whether it be intentional or not. It’s easy to see why, though. Pajama Day is easy and accessible to all, as well as the perfect excuse to come as your most dressed down self and have it be socially acceptable. Although it might make some of us a little bit more susceptible to sleep than usual, it ironically does fill the student body with some spirit. 

2. Throwback Thursday

Blake is regarded as the “arts” school of the Northeast Consortium, and as expected, our student body is filled with brains brimming with innovation and creativity. If you’ve ever just stepped foot in the building for a mere nanosecond, you can see the diversity of the way we dress from a mile away. All of our Bengals have their own unique fashion sense, and I can’t wait to see how they incorporate that into our little blast of the past. I’m dying to see hippies, discotheque queens, 50’s greasers, and whatever else our school can come up with. Personally, I’m leaning towards paying homage to iconic 2000’s fashion queens Bella Swan and Elena Gilbert.

1. Culture Day 

Drum roll please …  And first place goes to none other than Culture Day! (Cue cheers and the crowd going absolutely wild.) It’s no secret that Blake is a diverse institution, and what better way to highlight it than having a day dedicated to recognizing all the distinct cultures in our circle? If I recall correctly, the last time we had in-person Spirit Week, we didn’t have Culture Day, so this is the day’s grand return. I, for one, cannot wait to admire all the Bengals proudly representing all of the cultures that make up our school through their clothing. Not only that but, we would also learn a lot about our surrounding schoolmates, which would really help re-strengthen the sense of community that we had BC (Before Covid).