Since COVID-19, school spirit at Krop has hit an all-time low. With little participation in school activities and rows of empty seats at sports games, our school pride and community that once defined our school seems to be fading away.
“We were on a roll before Covid,” Activities Director Michelle Russell said. “Some of the classes in SGA boards were really working on getting our kids to come together and support each other through the different activities, whether they liked it or not.”
The Student Government Association is in charge of planning many school events, like spirit week, lunch activities and dress down days.
“We have kids here who are from 90 different countries, and everyone has their own idea of what spirit is,” Russell said. “The students who are planning the events have to keep this in mind and have to ensure that everybody has a piece of everything, but if some students don’t like something they’re not going to participate in it.”
Girls Basketball Coach Joann Vilella-Howell said that in the last five years, she has seen a definite decrease in attendance at the games.
“It’s important to show support for the girls because a lot of them need empowerment and equality,” Vilella-Howell said. “I don’t think the students show enough support. One of the things a young girl would like to see is that her efforts are being recognized, no one likes it better than to have their hard work validated by other people. I would like to see more people at the games to have the girls have their hard work cheered on.”
Although school teams may not always perform well, more students that come out to support their classmates could boost the players’ morale and lead to better performances, ultimately increasing the team’s chances of winning.
“I choose to go to the games to support my best friends who play on the football team,” sophomore Priscilla Tobon said. “It’s nice when they win, they put their all into the game and I know their practices are tough, they do their best.”
Greater attendance at sports games would also help enhance school spirit, as more students would be involved and engaged in our activities.
“It would build our home team’s advantage and boost morale for some kids to see their peers coming to the game to cheer them on and celebrate their efforts,” Athletic Director Danac Lebrun said. “It gives anybody motivation when they have people they care about at their games.”
For our school spirit to improve, everyone, including staff and students, need to be more involved in activities. To find out about upcoming activities, follow @kropshs on Instagram. Students should get out of their comfort zones and start participating in order to improve our school academically and socially.