SPIRIT OF THE SPARTANS
Sentinel High School shows their yearly pride for the Spirit Week and Homecoming events.
Carson Bay (left) and Jaxson Barefield (right) dress up for Country vs. Country Club Day
The students of Sentinel High School in Missoula, Montana, end the first month of the school year with their Spirit Week, filled with many different after-school events, and a Homecoming game. They, like many other schools across the U.S., celebrate a specific time of the year to welcome alumni and new students onto the school grounds. Not all schools do the same things, some may not even celebrate at all, but this year, Sentinel commemorates their homecoming with a few new events the students have never experienced before. In an exclusive interview with Haley Wolsky, we get a unique look into the events of the week, and the process behind their making.
Wolsky is co-president of the student body, and in the interview, she stated: “I enjoy being involved, and getting to plan everything.” As one of the student body presidents, she oversees and works on many of the events that take place during the school year. Her, along with the other co-president, CC Size, and Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Martin, are the ones who do most of the planning of Homecoming, and are responsible for the many fun events and interactions that stem from Spirit Week. “Homecoming is a week where the school comes together and celebrates all of the events… It’s a thing to get everyone involved,” said Wolsky. This year, Homecoming ends on the 1st of October, with Sentinel’s football team playing at home against Flathead, and a dance following the next evening. The game is one of the most intense parts of the week-long event, and will sell many tickets, both to students and parents of the community.
I just encourage everyone to dress up and come to the events! It is a lot of fun.
Haley Wolsky
Spirit Week in-school consists of many different activities and ways to show pride for the school and its sports teams. Like many other American schools, each of the five days will have a “theme” of some sort, where students are free to dress up and go all-out for an outfit, and will have an interactive event later that day. Monday’s theme is ‘Colors Day’, where each grade is given a color to wear, and as an event will have a bonfire and a game of tug-of-war. Tuesday’s theme is ‘Country or Country Club’, with an event specifically for seniors in the early morning to enjoy the sunrise, named the ‘Senior Sunrise’. As well, later that evening, there will be home soccer games, where both girls and boys varsity will play against Capital. Wednesday will have the dodgeball tournament, with the dress-up theme being ‘Duos Day’, allowing students to dress up together as characters from movies, books, shows, or even to just match outfits.
Thursday’s Powderpuff Game with senior girls facing off against junior girls is well-awaited, and the theme of ‘Decades Day’, assigning each grade a decade in the 1900s to dress up as, will be a bigger day for the school than the last few. And of course, with the end of the week, Friday is ‘Sentinel Colors Day’, which is purple and gold. The football game will take place then later in the evening. Shortly following, the Saturday will be the night of the Homecoming dance.
Homecoming is a great opportunity to bring local communities together to celebrate school pride and acceptance of students, both graduated and new, onto their grounds. Sentinel is no different from every other school that celebrates. The themes and activities are not just for students, but are also available to teachers, who are given their own themes and opportunities to show their school spirit. As said by Wolsky during the final moments of the interview: “I just encourage everyone to dress up and come to the events! It is a lot of fun.” All students should be given equal opportunity to celebrate school pride, and the school has many opportunities for students to do so.
