This year, spirit week took place on October 17th-31st, but it was not the week of homecoming as it usually is. Because homecoming was so early in the school year (September 9th), the administration and student body would not have enough time to plan all the events and decorations spirit week brings, resulting in the week being moved to October, leading up to Newman’s big rivalry football game against Country Day. One difference this year was students did not have school on Wednesday due to advisory conferences, splitting the week in half.

One major change this year was there was no longer a winner of spirit week, only a winner of the spirit stick (awarded to the best hallway). Students used to gain points for spirit week from dressing up, performing the best dance, and winning field day games. Now, dressing up was just for fun, the dances were a separate competition, and the field day games were changed to divide the student body into houses instead of by grades.

The week started off with themed dress up/down days each day of the week. Monday was pajama day, Tuesday was pink out for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Thursday was each grade’s Disney hallway theme, and Friday was Green Out!

On Wednesday night, students gathered in their grades’ designated hallways to cover them in their Disney themed decorations: the freshman were Cars, the sophomores were Alice in Wonderland, the juniors were Princess and the Frog, and the seniors were the Little Mermaid. The school provided pizza and drinks, and the hallways were decked out by the end of the night as students worked tirelessly from six to nine PM to win the best hallway and the spirit stick.

On Friday, students gathered on Lupin Field for the field day events and dances. Each grade performed a choreographed dance that was voted on based on teamwork, organization, and entertainment. The sophomore class won with their “Greece” themed dance with the girls wearing poodle skirts and boys wearing jeans and white t-shirts.

Following the dances, the upper school was divided into four houses–House of Isidore, House of Newman, House of Jefferson, and House of Greenie (modeled after the Harry Potter houses)–for the field day events. These houses are composed of students from two advisories per grade and will compete multiple times throughout the year to earn points for their house. Each house had two leaders, and members competed in a dress up relay race and tug of war.

Finally, the field day events came to a conclusion with whole school pep rally with members from the lower, middle, and upper school. The cheerleaders cheered, the band played, and greenies from every division showed their school spirit. As the crowd gave a drum roll, the spirit week results were announced, and the junior class won the spirit stick! As the juniors flooded the football field in celebration, the school came together to sing the alma mater, played by the band, to conclude the school day and festivities.

A few hours later, the football field stands were packed again for the big rivalry game versus Country Day. The football team played hard, the cheerleaders cheered enthusiastically, the band played loudly, and the student section had fun supporting their fellow Greenies. The game concluded with Newman winning 31 to 14 as the students sang the alma mater once more. This was the end of a week full of school spirit, happiness, community, and fun-filled events.