School spirit has been a topic of discussion throughout this school year. Many students feel as if there is “something in the air,” creating a dull vibe that has been present throughout the past years at LFA. Whether it is the stress and tiredness that comes with the beginning months of this semester or the timidness that some students might feel to step outside of their comfort zone, our student bodies feel the void in spirit and are working to change it.
Our student leaders such as Student Council, Prefects, and Caxy Athletics team have focused on being the student voice to help lead our community to better engagement and participation. Student council has been working on this by assigning themed dress up days and school dances such as homecoming. The Prefects have been working alongside Mr. Ackim Mpofu, Assistant Dean of Students: Student Leadership and Activities, on regaining excitement at all school meetings, morning meetings, and outside of the school day events as well.
Mpofu states, “I would like to see more fun stuff in morning meetings where we showcase kids’ talent. If people want to do a skit, if people want to play an instrument, if people want to sing—I think we should be seeing that more, we want to celebrate you.”
By doing this, they hope that the attitude towards all school and morning meetings will become more positive and be a time of cheering and encouragement amongst our peers. In terms of House Cup competitions, The House Cup Prefects are working on improving the variety of activities to promote inclusivity amongst the student body.
Daniya Nussibbek 24’ shared that “We plan on using morning meetings to ask students trivia questions about music, geography, and other topics to involve as many areas as possible. Students who are good at one thing should be able to use their skills to bring their house up to the top. We believe that the diversity of areas the House Cup incorporates could attract students of LFA full of different talents.” We have tried out some of these fresh ideas such as September Stick-It and Field Day, which has added some fun into the school air.
Aside from our Prefects on campus, the Caxy athletics team has also been tackling this issue from the sports aspect of LFA spirit. They have been looking to create more pack-the-house events and to offer help with senior nights to make sure everyone feels that excitement and appreciation when doing their sport.
In terms of more on-campus engagement during the weekends, Emily Kalis, Assistant Dean of Students: Residential Life and Campus Life, has been working to plan new activities for both boarders and day students who are looking for activities over the weekend. She has been working with teachers in Atlass and Field to create their own haunted house competitions this October, has implemented themed weekends such as Harry Potter weekend with an infamous Quidditch match, and has added new off–campus excursions such as farmers markets and trips to the city on the weekend schedule.
With that being said, it is clear that our student leaders and teachers are both working towards regaining our school spirit through planning engaging activities for our student body. However, there is only so much they can do. Most of the responsibility lies in our own hands. It is up to the students to attend these activities and step out of their comfort zone to truly make a large impact in rebuilding our school spirit.
Mpofu talks about athletic games stating, “Intentionality is so important. Also, being able to relate. That’s something that we underrate so much. People come to your games, but you don’t go to theirs, yet you expect people to show up. It doesn’t work like that. A community is supposed to work together.” Collaboration is key and we must all contribute, no matter how it may be, in order to make it as exciting and uplifting as we all want it to be.
Even Kalis shared, “One thing I have noticed that has always been successful in the past has been just showing up and also kind of feeding into the little bit of silliness that we do at LFA.”
As a community, we need to keep building and developing an encouraging environment for each other so we feel comfortable to embrace that silliness, whether that’s dressing up crazy on themed dress day, or to get up during all school meetings and try something that we may have never done before. We need to make the conscious effort to go out to our sports games and cheer for our teams, even if one may not know everyone on that team. It’s about cheering each other on as a community and embracing our loving student body. Along with the efforts our leaders are making to gain spirit, we need to make an effort as well and only then, will we see a real change to our school spirit. Our sports games can be crazy, our all school meetings can be the highlights of our day, our weekends can be even more memorable on campus—but only if we make the effort.
