Roy Kang ’22
October has officially started, and Mercersburg Academy kicked it off with the traditional Spirit Week, during which students celebrated school spirit in a variety of ways: all-school events organized by each class, themed dress-up class days, and more.
Student Council Members laid the foundations for Spirit Week. Student body vice president Matthew Tavarez ‘22 says, “It was pretty interesting that every class had to organize an event by themselves, and it was also interesting that the dress codes were relatively easily met with consensus among the council members.”
Spirit Week began with Pajama Day and seniors wearing painted clothes from Paint the Numbers. On Twin Tuesday, students wore matching clothes with one or more of their friends and seniors all wore togas. Wednesday was Anything but a Backpack Day when students carried anything from a guitar case to even a microwave. Students took the community back in time on Throwback Thursday. Friday, also the beginning of Family Weekend, was Mercersburg Spirit Day. All students dressed in blue and white to represent the school and welcome family members to campus.
Along with the variety of themed dress-up days, each class council organized a special event during Spirit Week. The class of 2022 led the painting of the Simon Student Center windows on Monday night. The class of 2025 set up a schoolwide scavenger hunt that tasked students to find different items and people on campus. To verify their findings, teams submitted selfies documenting the completion of each challenge. The class of 2024 organized a game of Battle Ball (similar to dodgeball) on Thursday night, the winner of which will be awarded a day of casual dress. The Class of 2023 set up a week-long generosity card booth in Ford Hall, where students could write thank you cards to someone they valued.
The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has altered some aspects of Spirit Week. History teacher Dan Walker says, “First of all COVID had an obvious effect on morale. But otherwise, there were various years that I can think of when people really led the school spirit. It comes and goes depending on the class and who is on top leading the school spirit.”
Despite the hardships of the pandemic, Spirit Week continued to lift Mercersburg’s morale. Tavarez says, “Spirit Week has not changed much due to the COVID pandemic. However, it was disappointing that the pandemic transformed the traditional Family and Alumni Weekend into just a Family Weekend.” Chris Howes, the assistant head of school for student life and culture, reports that the number of families visiting during family weekends has decreased. The pandemic has set barriers for international families, and the school could only allow immediate family members on campus to keep the numbers manageable with COVID restrictions.
Compared to 2020, this year’s Spirit/Family week was far closer to the traditional celebration. As Howes recounts, no families were allowed to visit the academy at all last year. While this Spirit Week and Family Weekend may not have been ideal, the Mercersburg community is grateful for the opportunity to be together again on campus at last.