This article was written by Staff Writer Layla Morales.

While each school is different, most participate in what we call “Spirit Week,” a fun tradition involving dressing up according to themes. With different dressing themes each day that are typically outside the norm, including Costume Day, Pajama Day, and many other wacky themes. Students can express how they interpret each one and bond with their peers. This tradition has been loved by many different generations of McCaskey students, but this year’s theme has sparked controversy at McCaskey.

McCaskey’s 2022-2023 Spirit Week only consisted of four days as one fell on a holiday, already cutting the week short. The themes went as follows: 90’s Day, Class Colors Day, Dress Like Adam Sandler Day, and Tornado Pride Day. When released to the students, many disapproved. A group of freshman students in Mrs. Smith’s first period freshman class(room 122 of JP) were interviewed on their thoughts. A wave of “no” sounded throughout the classroom. If our freshmen felt unhappy with the themes, who’s to say next year they won’t feel the same way? Something here clearly needs to change.

The first day, “90’s Day”, prompted students to dress in styles popular during the 90’s decade. It seemed to be the best day for students, as most participated unlike the other days. One student stated, “It was lowkey whack …the only day that was good was 90’s Day.” This was a common response from students questioned on their opinions. 

“Class Colors” was the name of the second day, where each grade was assigned a color to wear. Freshman had white, sophomores had blue, juniors had red and seniors had black. This seems like an upgrade from last year’s “Class Colors” day, as various students complained about the color choice being “random”, and rarely any students having that color clothing. With this said though, junior and senior students were given colors that already align with McCaskey’s school colors. One anonymous student claimed, “I don’t like class colors day…it’s kinda boring.” Another student by the name of Anastiana says, “The class colors sucked because I’m a junior. Why would I wear red twice that week? …I’m sure there were other colors that could’ve been used.”

To the students, the third day was considered the most questionable due to being “Dress Like Adam Sandler Day.” It was a weird idea in itself – not many students had an idea of what “dressing like Adam Sandler” was, causing confusion and a lack of participation. Many others simply didn’t like the dressing style, calling it “bummy”. An anonymous student commented, ““That one Adam Sandler day…I didn’t like it.” Another student by the name of Aaron in Mrs. Smith’s first period class commented, “I didn’t like Adam Sandler Day.” While this was a newer theme, it didn’t seem to be very enjoyed by the student body.

The final day of Spirit Week was a McCaskey tradition titled, “Tornado Pride” day, where students wore red and black to represent their school colors. A student named Belinda stated, “I feel like two days were repeated”. And she was right — juniors and seniors alike had already worn “school colors” that week. Another student named Angelese commented, “The choices were a little bland.” 

Overall, Spirit Week seemed like a bust. Previous years have offered themes many more students enjoyed, and with social media bustling with new themes from schools all across the nation, we think McCaskey could take a step in the right direction by listening to student opinions on themes to choose. When asked this question, students came up with a myriad of answers. “I’d bring back Character Day and Dress to Impress day. I’d also enjoy adding a celebrity theme — one to show off your favorite music artists/actors/bands/etc. or something,” says one student. Many others suggest bringing back Character Day and Dress to Impress Day. A student named Samair offered, “Maybe like a Pajama Day.” Multiple other anonymous students gave recommendations such as Culture Day, Anything but a Backpack Day, Gender Swap Day, Sports Teams Day, etc. The students have spoken up, but will the arbitrators hear and change things before next year?