// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did school spirit say to the football? "You've got a grade team
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In United States education, school spirit refers to a collective identity between the members of an educational institution.[1] School administrators may wish to foster school spirit with the goal of creating a sense of community within the student population, mitigating feelings of student detachment and anonymity[2][3] or as a form of informal social control.
Around the turn of the 20th century educators like John Dewey and other Progressive educators[4] began to encourage administrators and educators to attempt to inspire a sense of esprit de corps amongst their student body. By 1916 the term "school spirit" had become casually associated with this general concept.[3]
School spirit was captured and critiqued in US pop culture through songs such as the Beach Boys' "Be True to Your School" and films with a coming of age story such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High. School spirit could also have the added advantage of lowering bullying rates by harboring a school climate of connectedness and belonging that lowers the rate of cyber-bullying.[5]
Spirit week and traditional events
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School spirit may refer to participation in extracurricular activities, school costume days, attending sports events, drives,[6] or fundraising for clubs or organizations.[7] Students may perform chants or songs at a pep rally or in common areas between classes. Schools may host assemblies in which students and staff members participate-in or watch color guard, cheer routines, talent shows, JROTC foot drills, and/or marching and pep bands during school days.[8]
Schools may hold spirit week events, during which members of a school are encouraged to display school spirit across several days by wearing school colors, wearing fancy dress (usually called "dress up days" in the USA[9]) to match a certain theme.[10] Depending on the school, spirit weeks may occur the week of homecoming.[11]
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Administrators and staff may choose to hold such events because they believe there to be a correlation between school pride[12] and higher self-esteem and/or greater academic performance.[13] Spirit weeks and school spirit, more broadly, are not limited to high schools. Students within the United States are typically encouraged to have pride in their school and, in turn, themselves, from as early as pre-school.[14][15] Common critiques of school spirit are that too many days of events can overburden families of young children, that students who are low-income may not be able to participate, or that such activities are a distraction from a student's education.[16]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "What is School Spirit?".
- ↑ "School Spirit: the Connection between Student Achievement, Involvement and Confidence" (PDF). Connecticut Association Of Schools. September 4, 2014. Retrieved 2026-04-03.
- 1 2 Terzian, Sevan G. (2004). "The Elusive Goal of School Spirit in the Comprehensive High School: A Case History, 1916–1941". The High School Journal. 88 (1): 42–51. ISSN 0018-1498.
- ↑ Harris, Johnathan Girade (2024-09-29). "Redefining High School Education: The Journey of a Progressive Education School Embracing Learning in the Modern Era". Journal of Transformative Learning. 11 (1): 24–29. ISSN 2471-6014.
- ↑ "Creating a Positive School Climate: How School Counselors Can Prevent Cyberbullying". https://online.campbellsville.edu. Campbellsville University Online. Retrieved 10 July 2026.
{{cite web}}: External link in|website= - ↑ Thomas, William B. (1988). "A Quantitative Study of Differentiated School Knowledge Transmission in Buffalo, 1918–1931". The Journal of Negro Education. 57 (1): 66–80. doi:10.2307/2295277. ISSN 0022-2984.
- ↑ Centron Corporation (1958), What About School Spirit?, Young America Films, Inc., retrieved 2026-04-02
- ↑ "Why Spirit Week is a Problem | Education World". www.educationworld.com. Retrieved 2025-04-05.
- ↑ Davis, Julie Daniel (2022-11-03). "School Dress Up Days @ VoiceEDU". Medium.com. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved 2026-04-02.
- ↑ "Spirit Week: House Collective Day". Columbia International University. Archived from the original on August 11, 2025. Retrieved 2026-04-02.
- ↑ "EF Education First". EF Education First. Archived from the original on 2020-11-13.
- ↑ "Spirit Week | Saddleback College". www.saddleback.edu. Archived from the original on May 14, 2025. Retrieved 2026-04-02.
- ↑ "Got Spirit?". NASSP. 2018-03-01. Retrieved 2025-04-05.
- ↑ Sines, Tamara (2022-08-16). "Kids Unlimited Preschool Summer Spirit Week! | Springbrook". springbrookny.org. Retrieved 2025-04-05.
- ↑ "Primrose School of Silicon Forest – 2025 Spirit Week". www.primroseschools.com. Archived from the original on July 2, 2025. Retrieved 2025-04-05.
- ↑ "Why School Spirit Days Are Out of Hand". Parents. Retrieved 2025-04-05.