From left to right: History teachers Lisa Gibson, Darcy Pohl, Stasia LaRoche, Christine Steed, Mike Mosely and Jared Swift kick off spirit week by dressing as their favorite color of M&M for Dynamic Duo Day on Sept. 11, 2023. Photo used with permission from Mike King.

Spirit Week marks the beginning of an exciting, new school year. After the chaos of the first two weeks, students are often thrilled to show off their school pride.

“It’s a good way for our students to have fun, be a little silly and not care so much about what they look like,” said SCA president Kaia Jackson.

Spirit week ran from Sept. 11-15, and it started with Dynamic Duo Day. Tuesday was Country Club vs. Country Day, Wednesday was Family Vacation Day, Thursday was Bikers vs. Surfers Day and Friday was I-Love-OL Day, which students and staff wore outfits specific for OL. 

Students often object to certain spirit days or complain about their favorite day missing from the week’s schedule, but for Kaia and the school administration, their biggest goals are inclusivity and participation. 

“As the SCA, we want to have most of the student body participating with us,” said Kaia. 

In order to achieve this goal, the spirit and sports committee within the SCA, must work together with Principal Dr. Claire LeBlanc to ensure that spirit days can be enjoyed by everyone. 

“Inclusion of multiple groups of students is very crucial to the success of school spirit weeks,” said junior Jonathan Del Rosario. 

As the final day of spirit week approaches, the entire school convenes in the gym to celebrate the fall sports teams. For incoming freshmen, this will be their first all-school assembly. 

“It’s a really important tradition for Ocean Lakes, and we weren’t able to do it during COVID, so now it feels even more special to be able to get together and celebrate as a school,” said english teacher Thomas Stewart.