Another Spirit Week is in the books. Some say it is the best week of the school year. This one week in October does serve a greater purpose than giving students a week to dress out of uniform; it is meant to bring students together and unify — not only each class individually, but the entire student body — with a sense of community.

Spirit Week is typically portrayed as a week devoted to cultivating school pride and celebrating athletics with games throughout the week, a pep rally, and the big Homecoming football game on Friday. However, how can the entire student body share their school pride without a bigger spotlight?

Our school is diversely talented. Have you walked by Mr. Ireton’s office and seen the art work by seniors Justin Kim and Ray Bricker posted on the wall? Remarkable. You have to have seen the picture of the Class of ‘19 in the main hallway as they wear their college t-shirts, many with names of tough schools stamped proudly across the front. Nearby is a poster reminding students that the Music Man will be performed soon, and the show’s cast members can be heard hard at work as other students are leaving to go home.

By focusing on mostly athletes during Spirit Week in the past, we were doing ourselves a disservice. This divided the school and worked against the purpose of school unity.

This year, increased participation in Spirit Week by a variety of students set it apart from Spirit Weeks in the past. In providing more opportunities for students outside of our athletic teams the ability to showcase their talents, more students felt inclined to share their school spirit.

During Spirit Week, the windows across from the main hallway’s bathrooms were covered in artwork painted by fellow classmates.

Each class was asked to share what JC means to them with just a few colors of window paint. Our artists accepted the challenge and created murals to visualize all that JC means to them and their classmates. Students gathered in Mr. Deaver’s room on a Wednesday afternoon to try out to be on a Quiz Bowl team that would compete on Thursday morning. They were excited because they could not only showcase their knowledge, but they would contribute to Spirit Week.

As each class rises to the next, we hope students continue to understand the importance of  recognizing talents that our classmates have to offer because that’s what separates our school from the next. Let Spirit Week continue to be the celebration of JC as a whole, each student included.