A call for SHS spirit to be more inclusive

I’ve lived in Solon my whole life. I’m so grateful for everything the Solon community has given me: from its amazing arts center to the world class education I’m getting from its school district. Solon and especially Solon City Schools, has afforded me with so many opportunities and privileges. I’ll be proud to say I’m from Solon when I go off to college, but I hate pep rallies and don’t own a single shirt that says Solon Comets.

I’m know I’m not the only student that feels this way. School spirit at Solon High School is very exclusive. School spirit is concentrated in athletics, specifically football, and leaves many students who choose not to participate feeling under-appreciated and left out.

“I don’t feel connected to this school,” said junior Emma Moughan. “As a (very proud) non-athlete, I feel like this school revolves around sports and grades and that’s it. A question I’d love to ask is: what has the football team done that Drama Club or Music in Motion hasn’t? So many large, successful clubs [such as MIM, Drama Club, Science Olympiad and Speech and Debate] are overlooked because they don’t involve running and/or a ball.”

I definitely appreciate SHS administration’s efforts to increase school spirit this year, but I do believe they went about it the wrong way. So far, the new programs introduced this year, such as video announcements and the Spirit Squad, only increase the focus on sports that are already well attended and other organizations and programs that are already appreciated in our school.

Even senior Spirit Squad member Taaj Jones believes our school has a disconnect when it comes to school spirit despite the new programs put in place this year.

“Our school definitely needs a spiritual revamp,” said senior Spirit Squad member Taaj Jones. “At football games you can literally see the divide amongst all the grades and I think that’s one of the reasons our school doesn’t have a lot of spirit. We really need to work on not seeing people as the grade they are in, but instead as classmates or fellow students of our amazing school.”

However, our school’s spirit problem is not about football games. In all honesty, the football team does not need more recognition. People are going to show up for games whether we advertise on the announcements or not. If the leaders of our school want students to have more pride in SHS they must make an effort to make school spirit more inclusive.

SHS has success in many different areas. Our show choir is nationally ranked. Our academic clubs, such as Science Olympiad, Academic Challenge, Future Problem Solving and Model UN, travel to extremely prestigious competitions throughout the year. Some of our lesser known sports teams have carried undefeated records (I’m looking at you girls golf and girls tennis!) this year and their games are still under attended and received little recognition for their achievements.

If our school made more of an effort to expand their definition of school spirit to encompass all different areas of Solon success, I think more students would feel connected to SHS pride as a whole and not just pride in their individual activities.

“They should bring more attention to more programs — athletic, artistic, and academic– that compete against other schools,” senior Matt Axner said. “Other than football, students don’t pay attention to much of what Solon does. It’s friendly competition that I believe truly unifies a school, especially when Solon is as successful as it is across all programs.”

I’m calling on SHS to make a change. Use the creative tools created by the administration to bring attention to the “little guys” of SHS culture. Have the Spirit Squad organize a group to attend an SHS orchestra concert; Sinfonia and Concert Orchestra are seriously talented and no one knows about it. Feature our marching band on the video announcements and encourage students to immerse themselves in the band’s performance at halftime instead of sitting on their phones or grabbing a Chick-fil-A sandwich. SHS students, go see MIM at a local competition, go watch the Future Problem Solving skits at the State Bowl held at SMS every year, or catch a concert band performance to see what your favorite marchers are up to in the off season.

If you’re part of the demographic that is being represented, I’m asking you to please make an effort to pay that support forward. Find an event during your off season and go see what else SHS students have to offer outside of your specific program.
As a senior, I’m not going to be an SHS student for very much longer and I’m hoping that when I step out of these doors for the last time on May 4, I can leave knowing that changes are being made to include more students like me in SHS spirit.