The Evolution of Spirit Week

Spirit week in its essence is the annual tradition where students battle against other classes, while also losing their sanity in the weeks leading up to this spirited tradition. This tradition has evolved greatly from its original foundation, and every year since its start in 1990  new traditions have been added to the spirit week experience.

“The idea of spirit week began when my friend, Sue Tameling, used to tell me about her experiences at her high school’s spirit week. I had three daughters at the school during this time and I wanted to promote more events that everyone could get involved in. After speaking to Mr. Marsh, it was clear that he supported the idea, and that is when the idea of spirit week was born,” said Florence Lewis, former director of admissions and creator of spirit week at Westminster Christian Academy.

Lewis explained that the original idea of spirit week derived from real humble beginnings, and in its first few years it was centered around dress up days and games.

“It really was nothing huge when it first began. We had nothing digital whatsoever, and everything was creative and created by hand” said Lewis.

Some original games that took place in the early years of spirit week included balloon stomp, caterpillar races, chariot races, and tug of war; all of which are still performed at spirit week. The noteworthy performances of boys poms, lip sync, and blue man stomp were not added until a year or two later, but one of the original favorites of the week was the decorating of the hallways.

“Each grade was assigned a specific theme, and the students would go to work and put crazy embellishments on the lockers, ceilings, floors that all incorporated their theme,”  said Lewis.

Although spirit week has truly evolved from its original foundation, one thing that has been upheld throughout the years is the competitive nature of spirit week at its core.

“Scores were never revealed until after Wednesday in order to build up the tension between the classes, and rules were orientated every year in order to keep things appropriate,” said Lewis.  

Everyone can agree that spirit week is not simply fun and games, rather it is a month long celebration where people prepare for countless hours leading up to the event. Spirit week has not lost its competitive quality, and the past 26 years have kept some traditions and created new ones. The games are still the same, boys poms and lip sync have maintained their status of the biggest events of the week, decorating the hallways has transformed into art board, and many more events still contribute to what spirit week was intended to be.