On Friday, March 29, ASB hosted Olympic Week, in which all the classes competed against each other in activities such as Battleship, Down the Donut and Dunk Tanks. These games culminated in the final face-off on Friday night: Clash of the Classes.

All Friday night, my friends’ Snapchat stories were overflowing with clips of people screaming, cheering and laughing, as they animatedly rooted for their teams. And honestly, it was refreshing to see people at this school express their excitement about something other than no homework weekends or college acceptances.

Upon entering Los Altos, I was disheartened by its lack of school spirit. At the few rallies held every year, it seems as though half of the people don’t really want to be there. It was unfortunate to see the competitive activities met with half-hearted cheers and bored glances. This creates a stale and unwelcoming environment for people to express their emotions, and sometimes it feels socially unacceptable to cheer. Thus, with the exception of a few unconcerned students who continue to demonstrate their excitement loudly and groups such as Blue Crew, Los Altos is dead spirit-wise.

Students have blamed this lack of spirit on ASB not being able to arrange interesting and new activities. I’ve heard some students state that they think the games at brunch and lunch are “lame,” and complain about the lack of participation in spirit weeks. While it’s easy to criticize ASB for not being inventive enough and for our lack of school pride, we must acknowledge the steps they are taking to rectify this.

Clash of the Classes was an earnest attempt by ASB to cultivate school spirit in Los Altos — and it worked. It was a much needed opportunity for students who wanted to showcase their school spirit proudly to pool together and foster a very warm and judgement free atmosphere.

My friends gushed over how well-executed the overall event was and how enthralling the new games were. ASB introduced activities such as crab soccer, mattress madness and an Urban Dictionary spelling bee, which were a welcomed change from the worn out tug-of-war activity.

It was evident to the people that attended that Clash of the Classes created a positive and energetic environment where people could come together in solidarity. The implications of having more school pride are not just seen in having rallies with more engaged participants; school spirit also connects people together who may not have socialised outside of school. It means that, slowly, we are building towards a better and closer community.

From the Clash of the Classes’ success, I think it’s necessary to host more events like this — optional tournaments that take place outside of school hours. This way those who are uninterested can opt out and those who are intrigued can immerse themselves in this experience. If more after school events such as Clash of the Classes are created, then perhaps the energy and pride fostered in these functions will transfer over to school rallies.So instead of activities being met with the typical bored gazes, they will be acknowledged by engaged and excited students.

I also believe that as these additional gathering become more standard and more people start to attend, we will finally be able to showcase the full potential of our school’s spirit.

As a school, it shouldn’t just be ASB’s responsibility to make us more spirited. We have to take steps to showcase our school pride. I hope that every student at Los Altos tries to flaunt their school pride, because it’s nothing to be ashamed of.