From pep rallies to spirit weeks, homecoming, and town halls, the school offers a lot of school spirit events. In fact, this year many have noticed a sharp increase in the number of activities Jackson-Reed’s Student Government Association (SGA) has organized for students to attend, as well as an increase in the quality of these events. The SGA’s care for school spirit and pride have significantly increased this school year, making their events much more enjoyable! While these spirit events are frequent, the student body itself does not seem enthusiastic about them, damaging our level of school spirit.

Let’s take a look at recent events. In February, there was the first winter pep rally in recent years at Jackson-Reed! SGA held various competitions such as basketball, relay races, and musical chairs to be competed between different grade levels, as well as a ceremonious “shout-out” to the numerous winter sports teams at Jackson-Reed. To celebrate Black History Month, the Black Student Union (BSU) and SGA collaborated to make sure that just about every day at lunch there was an activity, including a DC Fashion show, a jazz/gospel event, and the passing out of “DC Fries.” 

With so much planning involved from SGA, the JR administration, and multiple clubs, one would think that these events would attract a lot of participation and excitement. However, this is not the case. For the pep rallies in particular, many students, especially the senior class, went home early and skipped these events altogether, decreasing the overall “pep” of the pep rally. The daily Black History Month events were also low in attendance and word of mouth. 

People always talk about how our school needs more spirit, but student organizations and SGA are not to blame. We can’t complain about our school being boring while eating our lunch when there’s a literal photoshoot happening in the Atrium. We as a collective student body need to start attending these events and hyping them up! Even if it is a little silly to watch blow-up tigers race across the track field, and to do the “SkeeYee” chant, it’s fun. We need to embrace the cringe. Let’s bring back #TigerPride and support school spirit!