Does MSSH have enough Hawk pride? Do we even try? Why don’t we have what you see in the movies? Are we boring? Are we not united enough? Could it be the language barrier? Could it be our uniforms? Who knows? All that can be said is that our school spirit needs a change!
Why don’t we have it? Some people say it’s because our school is boring, but why? We do everything that a high school experience should include: pep rallies, sport games, special activities, and dress-up weeks. What is it that we are lacking? Nobody can answer that question.
Students don’t show as much enthusiasm about school activities as they used to. When pep rallies came around, everyone would paint their faces and dress in the school colors. And when the school mascot and football team came out, there would be cheering instead of the constant “boos” like one hears now.
What is going on? There are only a few students in the entire school who show a sense of school spirit but what about the rest of the school body? One reason may be the language barrier at MSSH. There are three major languages spoken throughout our school: English, Spanish, and Creole. The majority of the students speak only Spanish. This can create a major problem with school spirit.
Since foreign students have not been in this country very long, they might not know or have the same idea about school spirit the “American high school way.” It isn’t an easy task to force new ways upon someone who has never done these types of things before. How can we show them the way that things are traditionally done? Do we make an effort to help them? “By having more activities, I think we would unite more,” says Senior Andrea Rubio. “There is nothing exciting. Once December comes there is nothing to expect, just the same classes everyday.” If most of our student body is bored throughout the remainder of the school year, how are we going to show others how to have spirit if we can’t have it ourselves?
What’s more is the apathy students these days seem to feel about school and school-related activities. Whether students know these traditions or not, they still have no interest in taking part in the school spirit fun. When pep rallies or dress-up weeks come around, you may hear many people criticize. “I think that dressing up is for nerds and for the people who want to show off,” says an anonymous sophomore.
The Activities Office tries their best to keep our school spirit on a rise, but there is only so much enthusiasm that they can help us with. Maybe our lack of school spirit isn’t only about a language barrier or laziness, maybe it has to do with admission costs. Students are charged to go to a pep rally or dress-up when they don’t even have enough money to pay for lunch. School activities are for fun and to show off our Hawk pride. Some may be fortunate enough to pay one dollar, but others use that one dollar to eat lunch the following day. Students obligated to pay for school spirit only discourages them from having any.
But maybe there is more. Could it be the overcrowding? There are 3,366 students at MSSH when the original school blueprint was only intended for 1200 students. “Overcrowding is one thing that keeps us from being united,” says Rubio. Various activities are separated into two sessions because there are too many students.
Ronald Reagan High School is being built for the Doral students and is said to relieve the number of students coming from that area, but will it really make a difference. The majority of our population lives in Hialeah, still leaving a vast crowding.
Overcrowding may be the answer as to why we lack school spirit, but school spirit isn’t only in school. Usually students love to “represent” and say what high school they go to, but for some reason Miami Springs has the reputation to be a “lame” school. Other high school students wear their school spirit shirts or jackets and have no shame in representing it. “Students are so sick of wearing uniform 24/7 that they don’t feel like wearing anything related to school while out of school,” says Jaskie Alfonzo, Secretary in the Attendance Office. Mrs. Alfonzo believes that wearing the uniform on a daily basis makes the students not want to wear anything else that reminds them of school on the weekends. School spirit isn’t something that you get sick of, but just the thought of your uniform gets you aggravated?
Is high school supposed to be like this? It is only up to MSSH Hawks to fix the spirit damage that has been done. What could we do to fix the setbacks? Are you in the crowd going wild or maybe speaking up about your opinions? Are you caring enough? You are a Hawk and will always be a Hawk, so how about making the best of it...even better!