Spirit Week boosts school pride

Prior to the homecoming parade being canceled due to the inclement weather last Saturday, Hewlett High School students were encouraged to participate in cheerful, enthusiastic events, for Spirit Week.
The hallways were filled with intricate decorations, students arrived to school dressed in creative costumes and accessories, and nearly every car in the senior parking lot has writing on the windows reading, “H-Town!” “Go Bulldogs!” or the motto of the class of 2015, “2015 SWAG!”
Each day of the school week is a different day for students to show their school pride. This year, Monday was Pajama Day, Tuesday was Theme Day (each grade was given a theme; for seniors it was jungle, juniors got ocean, sophomores were tundra and freshman as desert), there was also Wacky Wednesday and Thursday was Spirit Day. Friday school was closed due to parent-teacher conferences.
The theme days led up to the big pep rally on Thursday. With the crowd roaring in the background, the band performed as the color guard team accompanied them, the chorus sang and the Step Squad performed not just once, but twice as students called for an encore.
The cheerleading team also performed their routines, while the Pep Rally Dance Team showed off their move gyrating to a mash up of popular songs. Varsity sports teams took to the gym floor to cheer on one another and those coaches shared their support of the football team, who made their grand entrance amidst the cheers and screams of the students and staff.

One significant pep rally change this year was elimination of student emcees to pump up the crowd and the accompanying skits due to concerns about bullying. Though a majority of students disliked the change the pep rally was a rousing success.
That spirit carried over to the rainy, blustery Saturday as the Bulldogs defeated Glen Cove 21-18 in a Conference III football game to finish the regular season at 5-3. The team earned a playoff berth and will host Valley Stream North on Saturday at 4 p.m.
As a senior this year, I was so excited to experience the adrenaline rush that comes with Spirit Week, and my expectations were certainly exceeded. I loved scouting through the school to see what eccentric costumes students would be wearing, and was sure to capture all of the candid moments and selfies with classmates. I will remember my final Spirit Week and homecoming at Hewlett as one filled with laughter, enthusiasm and support shared by the entire Hewlett community.