Top 5 Best Parts of Cleveland’s Spirit Week

1. This year’s spirit week held what was declared at the football game to be “the best year of Hall Decs we’d ever had.” The hall decoration theme, “The Show Must Go On,” was a fantastic choice―it made for entertaining musical performances and solid decorations. Each grade’s team organized their decorations well and put a lot of effort into them! The new “eco-friendliness”-based grading element was also a welcome addition to the competition, since projects that use that much paper and non-recyclable material tend to raise some concerns.
2. The 15 minute late start was much-needed. It provided the opportunity for students to see the hard work done on the hall decorations without them remaining up for the whole day, which could have been a potential safety and accessibility hazard. The only issue is that the lockers of some students were blocked for the first period, but it was only a minor nuisance.
3.  The pre-homecoming assembly was entertaining. It had good information on each spirit day, and the “trailers” for each hall decoration theme were fresh and funky. As assemblies go, the activities were fun, and of course the dance team’s performance was super stylish. It provided an excellent kickoff to homecoming.
4.  By far the most exciting part of the entire homecoming night celebration was the Cleveland Band performing at the football game. They infused the whole thing with fun and spirit, even for people who couldn’t follow a football game whatsoever. This game absolutely would not be the same without them.
5. Putting Homecoming on a Thursday on a week with Friday off was a good choice! The dance ran a little late, and it tends to be better for productivity and health if students don’t have to go right into school the next day. The celebration leading directly into a long weekend was the way to go, even though it meant not having hall decoration scheduled on an early dismissal day.

Top 5 Areas For Improvement in Cleveland’s Spirit Week

1. Homecoming across the country is often celebrated as a formal dance. Our Homecoming football game is great, but our dance is more like a smaller party. We only have two dances for the entire year, and in my opinion, this is a reason to use them wisely! Formal dances might not be for everyone, but given how few dances we have it may be worthwhile to put more effort into them. We could step up in terms of decoration―possibly incorporating the hall decoration themes into the gym, and definitely having better lighting (disco balls involved). We could have a semi-formal dress guide. We could string crepe paper through the rafters. We could have a snack table! The possibilities are endless.
2. Though I can understand why having the PSAT in the same week as Homecoming would be difficult to handle, scheduling hall decorations on the early dismissal day was a great idea last year for hall decorations. Students had much more time after lunch to work and didn’t spend as much time at school. Of course, it’s a choice between having more time to decorate or having the day after Homecoming off.
3. This year, ticket sales were much more confusing than they should have been. The importance of pledge sheets wasn’t clearly stressed, and many students didn’t know that they needed them to buy a ticket. As homecoming rolls around, there might also need to be more than one purchasing station at lunch (most students in line for tickets on Thursday didn’t end up being able to get their ticket until after school). The school could have sold tickets at the door to the dance and still required the parent-signed pledge sheet, which for many students could be much easier. However, that might make the already-long wait to get into the dance much longer and more complicated. 
4. The dance from last year in terms of decoration absolutely topped this year’s. We had Mario Kart, and that’s hard to beat. The gym could have used some interesting lighting rather than the near-total darkness that we had this year. Finally, trivial as it is, there was only one place to request songs. Perhaps there could have been an online form available next year.
5. It’s difficult to time the ending of the football game so that students can make their way to the gym precisely by 9:30. Still, the line snaking around the school took almost 45 minutes to fully make it in. In order to shorten this time, there could be two card-checking entrances, and the dance organizers could prepare to open the doors earlier in case students got there before 9:30.