At Hotchkiss, we take five days to gear and psych up to play our rival school Taft in most sports (never water polo, as Taft doesn't have a pool, or cross country, a team that has its New England championship on the same day). We call it Spirit Week. During the days leading to the competitions, the students decorate the Main Building and get excited for the weekend's games. Each day has a different dress-up plan. The photo above comes from Secret Dorm Day, in which the students from the dormitory where I affiliate dressed as Tinker Truckers. I particularly liked one girl's hat (not pictured) that said, "I Love Trucks." Another dorm's theme was "Anything but a Backpack." Students from that dormitory carried their books in desk drawers, golf bags, full-sized wheeled suitcases, microwaves, and mini-fridges. Hysterical. Other spirit days include Preppy Day, Way-Back Wednesday, and Twin Day.
And this set of clothing rituals is part of why I love spirit week. I enjoy kids' cleverness and humor, their willingness to look silly and their eagerness to band together. Every year, I see more examples of ways the teens here harness their creativity for community.
On the other hand, I struggle with the tribalism, the us/them, the waste, and the classism of it all. They put up cards (so much paper, so many cards) with quips such as, "I don't speak to Tafties very often, but when I do, I ask for large fries," and I think, what's wrong with having a job serving others? They comment on Taft kids' intelligence, their lack of creativity, their class. It doesn't take a huge leap to imagine that such us-versus-them thinking can lead to thinking about other groups of people as less-than.
For example, in the past few years, they build a cardboard rhinoceros (Taft's mascot) and burn it. How can anyone think it's a good idea to burn at item in effigy?
Beating Taft in competition should be fun because Taft kids are exactly as wonderful as Hotchkiss kids. If they were weaker, stupider, or in any other way lesser than we are, then beating them in competition wouldn't be victory; it'd be bullying. Only if we acknowledge them as equals does winning become about strategy, performance under pressure, coaching, and skill.
Can't we find ways to celebrate what makes us Hotchkiss without denigrating others? Can't we learn to come together without pushing anyone else aside? What do you think?
Below, you'll find one of my all-time favorite psych cards. Hi, AR!
Really good points made regarding community vs tribalism! Totally agree and definitely felt the same way when participating. Also, love that the psych card lives on 🙂
Thanks and yes, very cute psych card — and doesn’t say anything mean about anyone. Perfect!
“the tribalism, the us/them, the waste, and the classism .” I couldn’t agree more! I think it should be carefully evaluated that the spirit week, which seems a lot of fun, should not negate cultivating mindfulness, empathy, and compassion among the community.
Thank you. Yes, I might share this post with our administration. I believe/hope we can find ways to do better.
That hit home. Classism seems to be built into social structure. Even ants are guilty of it. Spirit Week was a good reminder to be vigilant. Thanks!
Pattie
That hit home. Classism seems to be built into social structure. Even ants are guilty of it. Spirit Week was a good reminder to be vigilant. Thanks!
Pattie
Thanks, Pattie. We are no better than ants. Good to remember that!
Great stuff, cg. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Thanks, Annie. I appreciate the support…and wonder if you’d ever want to write a guest post. You have a lot of worthy Why–thoughts you could share!
Brilliant essay, LG 🦞,
Thanks for raising the relevant issues in such a clear, gentle way.
Thanks, RG! Love, LG
At the camp I worked at last summer, all the other programs had competitions and tournaments. So we started doing a Circus Olympics for the end of each session. Only I’m so uncomfortable with competition that I kept assigning bonus points for any team that did something cool and docking points for anyone who did anything uncool and losing track of which team was actually winning which event and somehow we always wound up with a tie for first and nobody in last place. When the kids demanded to know who won, we’d make up silly yet glorious prizes –hit a counselor with a pie, run around the room with the Circus Olympics torch (yellow and orange juggling scarves tied to a pole)–so nobody would care too much if they won or lost.
Also the classism you point out is something I’ve just begun thinking about. I remember being proud of figuring out the hand signal taunt for “Whatever, your Mother Works at McDonald’s” (fingers in W, M,W,M). Ugh.
I’m a big fan of Ultimate Disk’s self-refereed games. One team per tournament wins a “spirit of the game” award for being nice people, honest, helpful, etc. I wish we could put such metrics into other games, too.
I also liked that taunt, admittedly more for the finger gestures than for its meaning, but am starting to see things differently as I get older.
As always, grateful for your shared thoughts!