During the week of October 18th through 22nd, CRLS students and staff embraced the first in-person spirit week since 2020. Throughout hallways and classrooms, students demonstrated their school spirit by proudly wearing themed outfits and posing for photos with friends, hoping for a chance to be featured on the Student Government Instagram account.

Spirit weeks are a long-standing tradition at CRLS. Run by Student Government, they are intended to help foster a sense of community among the almost 2000 students at CRLS.

In past years, participation in spirit weeks was often limited to a small portion of the school. This year, however, the start of the school year was made especially stressful for many students due to the return to full-time in-person learning. Junior Class President Ellie Harmon ’23 explained to the Register Forum that Student Government “hoped to create a positive environment within the school,” adding, “spirit weeks help lighten up everything!”

Noe Shoor ’22 shared a similar sentiment with the Register Forum, saying, “this is the first time I followed all the guidelines and showcased my school spirit, and I had a really enjoyable time, so I would encourage all students to do the same.”

The five days of spirit week were “Monochrome Monday,” “Twin Tuesday,” “On Wednesdays We Wear Pink,” “Jersey Thursday,” and “Falcon Friday.” Falcon Friday, which celebrated the wearing of CRLS gear, coincided with Homecoming, and the week was promoted as “Homecoming Spirit Week.”

When asked by the Register Forum what her favorite day of spirit week was, Charlotte DeFlumeri ’24 expressed, “I liked Twin Tuesday the best … A lot of people participated [in spirit week] which was so fun.”

Many students were especially eager to participate in spirit week due to the opportunity to be featured on the Student Government Instagram account (@crls.sga). Student Body Co-President Jinho Lee ’22 explained to the Register Forum that Student Government aimed to feature as many students as possible “as a way of celebrating everyone who participated,” and “students were DMing us and finding us in the halls asking to get featured.”

Julia Shaw ’23 told the Register Forum, “Spirit week was really fun, and I think a lot more people participated … I don’t know if that’s because of COVID or Instagram. They posted a lot but it definitely encouraged people. I know I wanted to get posted.”

While online spirit weeks were held during the remote learning period caused by COVID-19, participation was limited. Many students did not have their cameras on during Zoom classes, making spirit weeks difficult to organize. Furthermore, the isolation brought by the pandemic was not always conducive to school spirit.

Despite this, Student Government hopes to move forward this year and bring the community together through spirit weeks and other events designed to promote school spirit. As Lee put it, “even … something as silly as wearing a certain color … can be enough to bring people together.”

This piece also appears in our November 2021 print edition.