School spirit

As I navigate the world of college admissions, I have observed that school spirit has been a point of pride at every school I’ve visited. Tour guides describe scenes of yelling at the top of their lungs, covered in face paint, in a jam-packed student section. These scenes entice me so much as to make school spirit a priority in finding my dream school. I long for such moments because spirit is something that Mercersburg now lacks.

At one point in time, we witnessed similar scenes of passion. Irving-Marshall week used to be a time when the entire school showed up and showed out for their societies and the school. But the once-organized chaos has been replaced with pure organization. The over-regulation of where and how banners should be hung highlights this: who cares if we hang banners on the Burgin? 

So to those who appreciate the faculty involvement in the week and banner hanging: let the banners fall, bring back the chaos! I assure you, the original Irving-Marshall events did not involve faculty assistance in the use of duct tape. 

I don't want to sound self-righteous, but I pretty much blame everyone but the officers for the all-time low attendance in I/M week last year. Officers put in nearly a hundred hours each year, but when we show up to the gym in body paint, we’re always the odd ones out. Additionally, the varsity male syndrome of PG guys only showing up for their own Irving-Marshall events is now so contagious that it has spread to regular sporting events, too.

As a lacrosse player, Coach Kerr has always encouraged or required us to attend the girls’ lacrosse games, emphasizing that we can’t expect them to attend our games if we don’t attend theirs. There are four hundred and fifty students in this school, but not even a hundred were willing to attend the boys’ soccer game under the lights last week: a perfect display of how people want support, but aren’t willing to give theirs to other teams. Furthermore, it is the same hundred students who you’ll see in the fish bowl on weekend nights, the same hundred in the crowd of Irving-Marshal week, and the same hundred who are there to experience the annual hypnotist or petting zoo. 

Our school spirit is at an all-time low. While seniors from my freshman year explain how their prospective colleges lack the community and school spirit that Mercersburg had when they were here, I doubt members of my class will say the same. We have no unified chants, we have no warcries, and we have no traditions or creativity coming from the bleachers. Last year, the Karux staff had to hand out cupcakes to convince people to buy their yearbooks. Now, the only purchases made from the school store are snacks instead of school merch. And heck! Nobody really reads the school paper!