OLMatters - The School Paper
Capturing Memories for the Future
Vol X
Aug 2014 - July 2015
SPIRIT WEEK !!!!
Late Thursday night, I sat on my bed with my computer open, listening to Lucinda Williams twang her honey voice and strum her guitar on You Tube. Strumming and muffling chords with the palm of her hand, she reminded me that I should probably write a few words down. Words that I could say to kick off the Spirit Day festivities, Friday.
These are the words that came out:
Good Morning and welcome to The OLM Spirit Week Festivities and Performance Day, 2014.
This year, our spirit week was filled with inventive challenges, costumes, and negotiations. Plans were made and remade. Identities were masked and unmasked. I know I myself enjoyed being my anima immensely.
Though in all seriousness, standing here on the glossy front court, I can say that all parties have done their part with grace, though at times unseemly moral rectitude.
The STUCO council and representatives would like to thank the Administrative Staff for working openly and tolerantly with us throughout the planning and realization of this years´ Spirit Week. We thank all sectors of the school and student body for participating in, and helping to create, an enthusiastic and cooperative expression of our school spirit.
Now let´s have some fun!
I read these words on Friday morning, but they were drowned out by the energy that fizzed and murmured in the crowd: the kind of energy that has been emblematic of at least an aspect of Spirit Week since I have become HS-STUCO advisor.
I consider myself lucky to be HS-STUCO advisor because it brings me closer to the wishes, needs, and desires of the student body. Occupying such a unique institutional position, and having access to such a potentially rich field of collective thought and action, keeps me motivated to grow and adapt with each passing year of student government activities.
This year I observed more togetherness in class activities, and less competition between grade levels. This is something we must nurture and celebrate, since Spirit Week should be about expressing the essence of our school, extending and utilizing our pride in belonging to this institution to create an image of our home that might inform and inspire future versions of itself. As we move forward, planning and organizing for next year, I urge that we use this mantra as the genius of our project.
David Venezia
