Interviews
A Step in the Right Direction
By: Gavin Li
With each month flying by comes something new, and the end of the year approaches progressively quickly. One thing that happens every month, however, is the SLT meetings. For those who aren’t familiar, SLT, or the Student Leadership Team, consists of the principal, some teachers and students, and the parent association. Consequently, the SLT works hard to resolve issues that arise within the school. The thing is, most students do not seem to know much about the SLT, or what it does exactly.
One sophomore student I interviewed, who chose to remain anonymous, had some thoughts about an issue with what happens within the SLT and how that is being translated to the student body. He first starts with a general statement of hoaw limited it is to approach a faculty member when addressing our wants/needs. One particular “want” from the students, as he mentioned, is the uniform policy and he feels that students are being restricted from their ability to express themselves. He then adds on to say that some students feel hesitant to approach any SLT member/staff when faced with a problem. To clarify, the SLT has sent out Google forms for students to address their concerns. But this has been only sent out to some advisory classes and isn’t sent out on a scheduled basis. To elaborate he states that this is the root cause of why some students have no idea that they can make a change. He feels that there should be a way for students to voice out their thoughts regularly to make changes.
As mentioned, the SLT is a team that works to resolve issues and problems that the school faces. Nonetheless, some students feel that their voices aren’t being heard and wish for ways to express themselves conveniently. This creates the question: How might regularly sending out Google Forms help the SLT?
The Spirit Week Dilemma
By: Elene Dvali
We don’t have school spirit. As everybody already knows, Manhattan Hunter Science is a uniform school. In order to foster school spirit, the student council plans Spirit Weeks throughout the year (ideally one per quarter). Recently, however, there has not been much engagement from the student body. While there are plenty of complaints, there is rarely any discussion of potential solutions. So why aren’t students dressing up? What changes would spark more excitement and enthusiasm?
A number of students from each grade were interviewed on their opinions regarding the most recent Spirit Week (week of the 10th). From Monday through Friday, the days were as follows: Decades Day, Jersey Day, Generations Day, Meme Day, and Culture Day. Firstly, Decades Day had an overall good turnout. People mentioned that it was a “fun concept” and that the different themes for each grade made it even better. Even though some seemed to not have adequate clothes, for the most part, people at least attempted to participate. Jersey Day also seemed to get the students excited, as there was a lot of participation. Unlike the first two days though, Generations Day was a fluke. Many were irritated at the fact that only the juniors, being assigned senior citizens, had a “proper” theme. Sophomores stated that they did not feel they had a chance to dress up due to the fact that dressing like an adult would not be much different from their everyday wear. In fact, one tenth grader even mentioned, “It felt like a filler day,” when referring to Wednesday’s Spirit Week theme. Essentially, students did not like how they just had to “wear whatever,” and said it made the day feel “not as spirity.” Similarly, Meme Day was not really any different. Students made much of the same comments, one of the most prevalent being the fact that Thursday seemed to be a “filler day.” They said that they felt there was not much thought put into the day’s theme because, “Nobody will get your reference so it’s kinda boring, you know?” Luckily though, the majority of the week still did end up receiving lots of positive feedback, as Friday’s theme had a significant chunk of the student body engaged. An anonymous junior expressed how she adored getting to see the many different cultures that our school has to showcase. Specifically, she stated, “I loved walking down the hallways and seeing people I knew dressed up in things I don’t normally see. And even if they weren’t dressed up, the little cultural details they had on their comfy clothes was nice too.”
Due to the many complaints in regards to Wednesday and Thursday’s Spirit Week themes, interviewees were asked what they would have done differently as well as what they would personally suggest to increase engagement. One very common response was that “all of the good themes are used in the beginning.” A significant chunk of the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors alike mentioned the idea of repeating themes. They expressed that if the right themes are picked and if they are spaced out correctly, it could solve the problem of having to use, as they called it, “filler days.” A couple themes that students felt they would not mind seeing a second time in a school year were: Twin Day, Character Day, and Swap Aesthetics Day, among others. Although he had only experienced three Spirit Weeks, at MHSHS, when asked about repeating themes, a ninth grader conveyed, “Repeating the days won’t really be repetitive if it’s the good ones. Like jersey day, for example—I actually liked that one.” Essentially, by being careful and deliberate, meaningful and fun Spirit Week Days could happen.,
The overall consensus among the student body is that meaningful Spirit Week themes can be achieved with more thought and deliberation. Many students suggested that the key to increasing engagement is to carefully select themes that will spark excitement and avoid "filler days." As Sofia Pyasta aptly put it, "What’s the point of Spirit Week if there’s no spirit?" By thoughtfully repeating popular themes and spacing them out appropriately, students are more likely to enthusiastically engage with future Spirit Weeks.