Homestead High School is gearing up for summer break starting in just a few weeks, but the final steps can be the hardest for its graduating senior class. Homestead seniors are planning a Senior Spirit Week from June 1 to 5 as a way to motivate one another to enjoy the final full week of their high school career.
Senior Spirit Week is a way for seniors to connect with their peers as a whole one last time before moving on to separate chapters of life.
Maisie Lidstone, senior, is the primary person organizing this spirit week.
“I really wanted to do everything that the senior class could do together. And I think it’s just a great way for, like, everybody to kind of come together before we graduate. Especially with the second to last week before school, it’s gonna be kind of hard to keep going,” Lidstone said.
Lidstone sees this as a way for the graduating class to reconnect and say goodbye one last time.
“I think [a spirit week] will just kind of make me realize more that we’re really close to the end, but I think it’ll be in more of a sentimental way, only because I get to spend my time with our senior class in our last couple weeks of school. So I think it’ll be overall really fun and heartwarming to see everybody,” Lidstone said.
On a similar note, Alice Lemke, senior, expresses her thoughts on a senior spirit week.
“I think we’ve done [a spirit week] every year for Homecoming. And they’ve been super fun, like, pajama days, and each grading wearing different colors,” Lemke said.
Similar to Lidstone, Lemke sees spirit week as a final highlight for the graduating class.
“I think [a spirit week] would really just put an exclamation point on my high school journey,” Lemke said.
Lindsay Charles, assistant principal, views a senior spirit week as a typical social behavior of seniors towards the end of the year.
“Seniors go through the classic senior slide. At the end of the year, they get excited about moving on to their next step and start to realize kind of the natural end to their high school career. So, I see the engagement lessen in the academic classes, but the engagement heightens socially with their peers,” Charles said.
Charles notes the positive effects of implementing a senior spirit week.
“I think that [a spirit week] gives people a common cause and a common thing to rally around. I think that it can also help with motivation. Sometimes it can be hard as the weather’s getting nice and you’re looking onto your next steps of what’s coming or even a weekend coming up. It can be something that helps people look forward to the day-to-day grind that they’re feeling at the end of the school year,” Charles said.
“I think it’s just a great way for everybody to come together before we graduate,” Lidstone said.
