From Homecoming Week to the Senior Run, spirit is a substantial part of the community. Our school cares a lot about school spirit. Some people say because it brings our community closer together, it unifies the school, it makes school fun. Caitlin Kearney ‘16 says, “It makes school a more fun environment because obviously we have lots of difficult things that happen everyday, so when we can all come together and celebrate our identity as Blake I think that’s something that helps make it a little more fun and a little more enjoyable.”

Spirit often reflects school culture. Quinn Kiernat ‘17 says, “If we have a lot of school spirit it means we really are a tight-knit group and we’re proud of who we are.”

But spirit hasn’t always been that way. When talking to Bill Colburn about school spirit and how it used to be compared to how it is today, he said that there were some pretty horrible things that happened. Students would “assert their privilege” in ways that were completely inappropriate. For example, students used to chant “It’s alright, it’s okay, you’re going to work for us someday!”

Since then, it has gotten better, but we need to keep reminding students of the importance of not putting other schools down while bringing ours together.

While school spirit can get out of hand, it can also bring different schools together. Rachel Eggert ‘19 says that at the end of swim meets each team will chant and cheer for the other team. When asked what rules should be placed around school spirit, Kearney said, “Nothing should get offensive, nothing should get mean towards another school or any one student.”

Everyone that I talked to said that school spirit benefits our school as well as makes school an enjoyable experience and unifies us. While we still have to be careful about what we say, overall school spirit is a great way to bring us all together as a community.