Kids involved in various time commitments on campus would be hard pressed to tell you they don’t care about school spirit. Spending more than the average eight hours on campus due to sports, music, classes such as Student Government (StuGo) or other clubs is something familiar to many students, however there seems to be a trend of negativity towards Perry spirit in general. Kids are often quick to talk or tweet negatively towards Perry High School, discounting those on campus that do care.

As a senior that has been in numerous clubs throughout high school, ranging from four years of choir to NHS, Key Club, and even Harry Potter Club, it’s easy to understand why some kids are upset about the vocalized disapproval of school spirit, which transfers to disapproval of clubs and classes that kids work hard about in efforts to please students.

Kids that care recognize that recently, their classmates, as well as kids from Basha, have shown disapproval in various things at Perry,especially on social media such as Twitter.

At the same time, it’s important not to ignore the people on campus that do take pride in Perry and make a special effort to participate. The recent disapproval in spirit has brought awareness to the situation in a positive way, and Senior Neylan Gonzales explains, “At the homecoming game I think I saw more people dressed for the theme than I ever have at a football game!” Gonzales views spirit week as a way to make high school a more memorable experience.

Keaton Merrell, a sophomore, was a near-prodigee during spirit week’s ‘Kidnapped Camper’ day, dressing as boy scout Russell from Disney’s “Up.” He explains that part his motivation to participate is to help improve the school, “To think that the school will become spirited without your own participation is the reason we aren’t as spirited as we could be,” Merrell explains. He continues, “It’s a group effort.”

Gonzales agrees explaining, “I think [participation in spirit events] adds to our high school memories and I honestly don’t care if I look like a goofball or a dork,” continuing to state that “There has not been one spirit day throughout high school [she has] not partaken in.”

Recognizing students like Gonzales makes it obvious that the wave of underappreciation for programs on campus that may be caused by word of mouth and easily accessible social media is not necessarily the norm, because people are much more likely to share what they dislike than what they do like.

It’s like a pack of gum, people are more likely to keep what they like themselves but are quick to complain when they do not have exactly what they want.

What it comes down to is respect. Although it’s not rare to find complaints against Perry, there are just as many kids vocalizing their opinion about reasons that Perry rocks.
On Sep. 10, Junior Joey Liberatore (@_JLib_) tweeted, “If you’re going to rip your own school you better have your transfer papers sign sealed and delivered.” Since then, others have stepped up to the plate in favor of PHS, retweeting pictures of the students section from the homecoming game and pictures from the dance, among others.

Tarin Sanford, Student Body Vice President, has been tweeting consistently since the complaints started. She said, “If you’re not proud of your school then step up and change it. Not sit back and see how many retweets on twitter you can get about it.”

Although the trend of disapproval in our school and its programs is likely more notable than universal, it is rather exhausting to accept as one of the kids who do care. It is totally understandable to vocalize disappointment but it is valuable to remember the kids who care. Thankfully, homecoming week proved doubters wrong, showing that there really is spirit to be discovered here in Puma Nation.