Dakota High School has amazing school spirit, whether it’s at football games or pep-rallies. But what does school spirit do for a school.
For one, high school spirit raises excitement in a school’s atmosphere. Getting dressed up for games, cheering, making signs, etc. are all apart of school spirit. These activities make sports and school events more enjoyable. It helps students look forward to participating in these events. This excitement and enthusiasm gives students more pride in their school.
In an article by Harris Poll, commissioned by Varsity Brands, they discussed the connection between pride and academic success. When students feel more positive towards their school, they are more likely to want to succeed in their academics. When students connect to their school, they want to increase their academic achievements to demonstrate that their school has helped them. According to this statistic by Harris Poll, 75% of students with higher levels of school spirit perform above average.
Not only does school spirit keep you connected to your school, but it also connects you to other students. Students participate more in school activities when there is a high sense of school spirit (Harris Poll 9). While in extra curriculars, students form bonds with each other. This creates a sense of community and safety within a school. When students feel a part of a community, this encourages them to take up more roles as a leader. A student leader can make more bonds while simultaneously supporting their school. These leadership roles create a sense of belonging and purpose for students.
Participation in raising school spirit can also create a sense of belonging. There are students at every school that just simply don’t enjoy extracurriculars at school. They’re either not interesting, too challenging, or just not that student’s preferred activity. Not doing extracurriculars at school can make students feels isolated, alone, and upset. However, school spirit activities are something that everyone can participate in. Everyone can dress up for football games. Everyone can cheer for their teams. Everyone can participate in spirit week. These activities give every student a place in the school. This has been proven in high schools around the nation, through both interviews and scientific statistics.
School spirit is much more than just a simple activity that everyone does. School spirit keeps communities together and makes them even stronger.
Dakota is a perfect example of all of those qualities. Our academics are great because of the pride students have in our school. Leadership roles are better than ever due to the drive students have to improve our school, its community, its academics, and its spirit. Football games are so high energy because students love coming together and love their team. Pep-rallies happen because students are willing to come together as leaders and put these events together. We could further improve these effects by giving even more to our students and our school. If you have any suggestions on more things we can do for school spirit and our community, put it down below in the comments.
