What does it mean to have school spirit? Is it about the size of the crowd at a football game? Or the participation in theme days during homecoming week? While these are definitely ways to measure school spirit, I think before there can be school spirit, there needs to be some level of pride in the school. Arguably, you could say our school is not spirited and that our students don’t care enough to participate in functions that display spirit for the school. This is easily a result of a lack of pride we have in our school.

In the past, we’ve had the craziest super fans in Lake County. But also, we’ve had very successful sports teams in the past. As we’ve began to suffer more losses, the crowds have died down and the fire has burnt out. Because we think we aren’t an athletic competitor anymore, we’ve lost that valued aspect of our school.

Let’s take a look at our seniors. We are in the midst of our ABC countdown to the end of our high school career, and our participation in the themed days is sad to say the least. But why is that? Perhaps we have given up on the Antioch Community High School. Seniors are so close to putting ACHS in their rear view mirrors that we are hardly even a part of the school anymore. We lack pride in our senior class and our school, and with that goes the school spirit.

So many students look at other schools and their theme days and say “their school is so much better, they participate, I wish our school was like that.” Well, right there shows that we don’t value our school for what it’s worth. ACHS seniors can match if not surpass the spirit the other senior classes have shown if only we cared enough to try.

Lastly, let’s take a gander at our behavior lately. The amount of fights, suspensions and expulsions I’ve witnessed in this past month alone has surpassed what I would think we’ve had throughout my four years at ACHS. It’s hard to have pride in a school that doesn’t carry itself in a respectable manner. Our actions cause us to look down on ourselves just as others do.

Basically, we are a product of our own actions. If we want to be a better school, all we need to do is BE a better school. You want spirit? Be spirited, be involved and be that school you look at and envy. I think we have it in us if we just take a little pride in ourselves.