For students in the Upper School, the beginning of October introduces more than just cooler weather: it serves as a reminder of the imminence of the highly-anticipated Spirit Week. A common sense of urgency has come upon every Upper School class as the commencement of the division-wide competition nears. While every class shares a similar feeling of excitement for the week, each grade is at a different level of preparation for the competition, according to their respective class leaders. 

Preparing for their first Spirit Week, the Class of ’27 is energetic as they work to take on the more experienced competition. Ninth Grader Emmie Huynh says that the grade has shown much passion as the competition nears: “It’s been really great to see a lot of initiative taken by students inside the grade that you otherwise wouldn’t see that passion and interest coming from … Spirit Week has brought out a lot of leadership in people with events like Hallway and Airband,” she remarked. As the only grade currently lacking class officers, Huynh also said, “It’s difficult to not have class officers to help manage the chaos of all the different ideas and opinions that Spirit Week obviously brings.”

Entering this year with a third-place spot under their belt from their ninth-grade Spirit Week, the current sophomore class is working hard to secure a high spot on the leaderboard this year. President Ali Sabir ’26 noted that one of the grade’s strengths is its focus on improvement: “We’re focused on just ourselves; we’re not worried about everyone else, and from what it looks like right now, Hallway’s progressing pretty well and Airband’s progressing pretty well.” Sabir “feels good” with his grade’s overall preparation.

In regards to the competition as a whole, Sabir noted the enjoyment that comes with the activities of Spirit Week: “The whole process, it’s a whole experience … being there for every part, you know, it’s a lot of fun.”

Coming off of a less successful last place outcome during last year’s Spirit Week, the junior class is ready for the big week. Eleventh-grade class President Luke Iacono ’25, noted a standout aspect of preparation has been the grade’s “unusual” energy: “I think we’re definitely incredibly energized in regards to Spirit Week; there’s a lot of energy, but lots of it is pointing in different directions.” In order to become more unified, Iacono says that “a big part … is getting all of that energy, all of those different ideas and proposals, and trying to unify them into one direct flow of work” for activities like Hallway and Airband.

Iacono noted that one of the junior class’s major strengths during preparation was the students’ eagerness to take charge without specific direction from the Class Officers: “I’ve actually been super impressed by the initiative that’s been taken by people who aren’t Class Officers to do things. We were able to get … songs picked out, time stamps done, and the order of the songs completed in two or three days with only two meetings, and it was all essentially done by the volunteer Airband committee, which was super great to see,” he noted.

Finally, the senior class is geared up for Spirit Week 2023 after a solid first-place win as juniors last year. President Alicia Leung ’24 said that the grade is ready for the competition: “I’d definitely say our grade’s pretty prepared, we have a lot of great acts and our Hallway is pretty much fleshed out, we just have to do some …final work prepping everything,” she explained. 

She noted that, despite the senior class’s unique experience with Spirit Week due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the grade has improved in the competition every year: “Since we were the COVID year, we never really had an introduction to Spirit Week, but [we’ve] been getting better and better with each year.” 

Leung also highlighted her happiness with the seniors’ determination to finish their last Spirit Week strong: “Everyone knows it’s our last time, so everyone’s really taking it seriously, and everyone’s really willing to do work, and I’m really, really proud and I think that’s a very positive thing for our grade this year.”

Confident that the senior class will be able to secure another win, Leung commented: “We’re definitely going back for [first place] this year, I definitely believe in our grade.” She remarked that she thinks the grade is “one of the most united … when under a common goal, and I really think everyone will come together [this] week to pull off a win. Knowing how we did last year and especially how pumped up everyone is, it’s going to be really good … [class of] ’24 on top!”