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149. Why I Love and Hate Spirit Week

Posted on November 10, 2021November 10, 2021 by caritagardiner
Tinker Truckers

At Hotchkiss, we take five days to gear and psych up to play our rival school Taft in most sports (never water polo, as Taft doesn't have a pool, or cross country, a team that has its New England championship on the same day). We call it Spirit Week. During the days leading to the competitions, the students decorate the Main Building and get excited for the weekend's games. Each day has a different dress-up plan. The photo above comes from Secret Dorm Day, in which the students from the dormitory where I affiliate dressed as Tinker Truckers. I particularly liked one girl's hat (not pictured) that said, "I Love Trucks." Another dorm's theme was "Anything but a Backpack." Students from that dormitory carried their books in desk drawers, golf bags, full-sized wheeled suitcases, microwaves, and mini-fridges. Hysterical. Other spirit days include Preppy Day, Way-Back Wednesday, and Twin Day.

And this set of clothing rituals is part of why I love spirit week. I enjoy kids' cleverness and humor, their willingness to look silly and their eagerness to band together. Every year, I see more examples of ways the teens here harness their creativity for community.

On the other hand, I struggle with the tribalism, the us/them, the waste, and the classism of it all. They put up cards (so much paper, so many cards) with quips such as, "I don't speak to Tafties very often, but when I do, I ask for large fries," and I think, what's wrong with having a job serving others? They comment on Taft kids' intelligence, their lack of creativity, their class. It doesn't take a huge leap to imagine that such us-versus-them thinking can lead to thinking about other groups of people as less-than.

For example, in the past few years, they build a cardboard rhinoceros (Taft's mascot) and burn it. How can anyone think it's a good idea to burn at item in effigy?

Beating Taft in competition should be fun because Taft kids are exactly as wonderful as Hotchkiss kids. If they were weaker, stupider, or in any other way lesser than we are, then beating them in competition wouldn't be victory; it'd be bullying. Only if we acknowledge them as equals does winning become about strategy, performance under pressure, coaching, and skill.

Can't we find ways to celebrate what makes us Hotchkiss without denigrating others? Can't we learn to come together without pushing anyone else aside? What do you think?

Below, you'll find one of my all-time favorite psych cards. Hi, AR!

Cute Psych Card

13 thoughts on “149. Why I Love and Hate Spirit Week”

  1. Avi says:
    November 10, 2021 at 2:45 pm

    Really good points made regarding community vs tribalism! Totally agree and definitely felt the same way when participating. Also, love that the psych card lives on 🙂

    Reply
    1. caritagardiner says:
      November 10, 2021 at 2:58 pm

      Thanks and yes, very cute psych card — and doesn’t say anything mean about anyone. Perfect!

      Reply
  2. Hasan says:
    November 10, 2021 at 3:39 pm

    “the tribalism, the us/them, the waste, and the classism .” I couldn’t agree more! I think it should be carefully evaluated that the spirit week, which seems a lot of fun, should not negate cultivating mindfulness, empathy, and compassion among the community.

    Reply
    1. caritagardiner says:
      November 10, 2021 at 5:13 pm

      Thank you. Yes, I might share this post with our administration. I believe/hope we can find ways to do better.

      Reply
  3. Pattie says:
    November 10, 2021 at 5:08 pm

    That hit home. Classism seems to be built into social structure. Even ants are guilty of it. Spirit Week was a good reminder to be vigilant. Thanks!
    Pattie

    Reply
  4. Pattie says:
    November 10, 2021 at 5:08 pm

    That hit home. Classism seems to be built into social structure. Even ants are guilty of it. Spirit Week was a good reminder to be vigilant. Thanks!
    Pattie

    Reply
    1. caritagardiner says:
      November 10, 2021 at 5:14 pm

      Thanks, Pattie. We are no better than ants. Good to remember that!

      Reply
  5. Annie says:
    November 10, 2021 at 6:12 pm

    Great stuff, cg. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

    Reply
    1. caritagardiner says:
      November 12, 2021 at 2:17 am

      Thanks, Annie. I appreciate the support…and wonder if you’d ever want to write a guest post. You have a lot of worthy Why–thoughts you could share!

      Reply
  6. Richard says:
    November 13, 2021 at 11:52 am

    Brilliant essay, LG 🦞,
    Thanks for raising the relevant issues in such a clear, gentle way.

    Reply
    1. caritagardiner says:
      November 13, 2021 at 12:36 pm

      Thanks, RG! Love, LG

      Reply
  7. Viveca says:
    November 20, 2021 at 3:34 pm

    At the camp I worked at last summer, all the other programs had competitions and tournaments. So we started doing a Circus Olympics for the end of each session. Only I’m so uncomfortable with competition that I kept assigning bonus points for any team that did something cool and docking points for anyone who did anything uncool and losing track of which team was actually winning which event and somehow we always wound up with a tie for first and nobody in last place. When the kids demanded to know who won, we’d make up silly yet glorious prizes –hit a counselor with a pie, run around the room with the Circus Olympics torch (yellow and orange juggling scarves tied to a pole)–so nobody would care too much if they won or lost.

    Also the classism you point out is something I’ve just begun thinking about. I remember being proud of figuring out the hand signal taunt for “Whatever, your Mother Works at McDonald’s” (fingers in W, M,W,M). Ugh.

    Reply
    1. caritagardiner says:
      November 20, 2021 at 3:46 pm

      I’m a big fan of Ultimate Disk’s self-refereed games. One team per tournament wins a “spirit of the game” award for being nice people, honest, helpful, etc. I wish we could put such metrics into other games, too.

      I also liked that taunt, admittedly more for the finger gestures than for its meaning, but am starting to see things differently as I get older.

      As always, grateful for your shared thoughts!

      Reply

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WHAT I DO

I teach English to high schoolers at a boarding school in Connecticut. I read AP English Literature and Composition exams and serve as a teacher mentor for the University of Pennsylvania Teaching Fellows program. I’ve earned a Bachelor of Arts (Amherst College), an Education Master in Learning and Teaching (Harvard University Graduate School of Education), a Master of Arts in English (Bread Loaf School of English), and most recently a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a certificate in the online teaching of writing (Southern New Hampshire University).

As a writer, I hope to capture the complexity and joy of life in the New England boarding school world. On this site, I share what I know about trying to write fiction while teaching English, coaching, and doing the other tasks associated with helping to raise over six hundred other people’s children.

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