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Monday, October 29, 2007

Collins' Comment: Questions of Spirit

By David Collins, Courier Opinion Editor

For the many years that Logan has housed students, there have been exhibitions of school spirit. Rallies, school colors, logos and spirit week. These articles of spirit have been a long held tradition of James Logan High, but the question is: Is it truly necessary for students to be forced into participating?


To be completely fair, no student has to wear school colors or participate in spirit week, but for years students have been forced to attend rallies and assemblies. For some, this is not an issue, but to those who find their time at Logan to be solely for themselves, an issue arises. Most students find that they have little school spirit. Having to attend school spirit rallies or to cheer on our football team without choice is somewhat of a burden. Students can parade that halls in cowboy outfits or escaped convicts, but that will have no effect on how much school spirit I posses. Most students are in the same situation.

The basis of my argument is that if students have a choice in having school spirit, shouldn’t we have a choice in participating in spirit activities? It is a false sense of spirit that fills the air of these activities because of this. Students are not forced to go to football games or dances, so spirit activities should be treated the same. It should be up to the student to decide, as it is with other events. Our spirit, our choice.

“The sun doesn’t control the tides.” –David Collins, Opinion Editor

Posted by courier at 11:53:17. Filed under: Opinion

Comments

Batman thinks Rallies are great idea. Batman would much rather sit in a rally having fun with Batman's friends cheering and having a good time, instead of sitting in class. Dont you?

Posted by Batman at Monday, October 29, 2007 12:18:32

i agree with Batman

Posted by batman-s groupie at Monday, October 29, 2007 12:44:50

If an individual chooses not to have or express school spirit, then there is no "false sense" of spirit. That individual has NO SPIRIT. And no spirit doesn't add or take away any value from the spirit that already exists. 1 + 0 still equals 1. And at the rally it sounded more like 3500.

We are part of a community and being part of a community includes having a sense of who we are. That's where school spirit comes into play. It helps build identity, pride, and sense of belonging.

Think about if your family never did anything together. What would that look like - how would that feel?

For "those who find their time at Logan to be solely for themselves", which I believe is the underlying premise for this opinion piece, I feel sorry for you... You don't know what you're missing. GO COLTS!

Posted by Mr. Rojas at Monday, October 29, 2007 16:14:14

lol, mr. rojas, i think you are misunderstanding david collin's argument.

i think collin's argument is that students should have the choice to attend these rallies and other spirit events, rather than being forced to. even if "school spirit" has its benefits, it shouldn't be forced upon students. whenever something is forced upon, the support level of it deteriorates as most students find it as a waste of time. that's the case at every school.

and most of the students that like going to rallies only do, so they can get out of class not because they have school spirit.

Posted by Adrian at Monday, October 29, 2007 21:58:01

The spirit days and rallies take to much emphasis off learning. maybe we should have rallies where we learn stuff, then the school could show us how fun learning is and we'd have Learning Spirit, which is more important than school spirit, anyway.

Posted by Smileyface Girl at Tuesday, October 30, 2007 12:58:02

All of this is ture, in a way. I think that rallies or other activites should be an opiton to do/go. Smileyface Girl in a way has a point. Activites should in a way have us learn something, not jus havin fun . But over all we should have a choice to do what we want in school things

Posted by Someone you may know at Tuesday, October 30, 2007 14:31:25

All points are well taken. I tried to make it a little more educational this year by starting off with a skit about good character and habits. But as usual the sound system needs a total upgrade and we could've made it a little more entertaining. I'm trying my best to make our activities worth the effort leadership puts in and more worthwhile for everyone. It would definitely make my job easier if we just didn't do any thing.

I graduated from Logan in 1997 and I feel that over the last 10 years, many Logan traditions and activities have gone wayside or just disappeared. Perhaps many people just don't care about the larger scheme of things and just focus on their own needs.

Give it time... things WILL change.

Posted by Mr. Rojas at Tuesday, October 30, 2007 14:50:14

Mr. Rojas --

Although I am a former student speaking, I still want to let you know that I think it's really awesome that you're taking time out and listening to the comments and stories of the Courier. Being an avid reader and contributer to this paper, I'm just amazed by the fact that you take the time to read it and truly respond to the students. I feel like it is important as a teacher to do it, but even more important now that you're the new leadership advisor.

I have no doubt that you are the beginning of change for the school when it comes to leadership, spirit stuff, etc. I'm just saddened by the fact that I won't get the experience of the changes since I graduated already. But it's ok. :)

Posted by Carmen at Tuesday, October 30, 2007 15:36:24

Batman would also like to add that Batman applauds the fact the the dialog was surprisingly loose and down to earth. it almost sounds like something people would say. Kudos Mr. Rojas

Posted by Batman at Tuesday, October 30, 2007 18:11:05

I think people should come to the rally. First of all when we went to the recent spirit rally, many people next to me weren't even cheering or even clapping. They were just there. All I'm trying to say is that people can come to spirit rally just to sit but not cheer. It's perfectly okay. BTW-was it just me or did I find the current Spirit rally a bit BORING!

Posted by Person who tries to SKI at Tuesday, October 30, 2007 19:20:08

I thought that this rally was better than the previous years, maybe just because everyone I was sitting with was cheering and they were all full of spirit. That is why I agree with the opinion that the rally should be a choice, because if everyone that went wanted to go then they would all be more spirited since it was not something required and it would be more entertaining. But I think the only real problem with the rally was is the sound, and that isn't because of leadership.

I agree with Carmen, I think it is great that Mr. Rojas is taking time to read The Courier and see how the students feel, and it's awesome that he is actually taking into consideration what the students think.

Posted by pippy at Tuesday, October 30, 2007 20:44:05

I agree with many of the opinions of Mr. Rojas and others, but I also very much agree with Mr. Collins' opinion. If the rallies were optional only the people who were interested in such events would attend. This would make the rallies much more fun for those that attended because there wouldn't be any one who wasn't cheering to bring the mood down. I think if the rallies were optional they would be much more... spirited. Of course I understand that if you let the students who didn't want to go to the rally to simply leave, it would most likely create some problems. So if a system were worked out in which students could go to the rallies or say, remain in class, it would benefit all of the school and especially the people involved in the rallies. When you are performing and giving it your all and you see people not participating it brings your energy, and therefore your performance down, just as performing in front of people who really want to be there and are having fun can boost your energy and improve your performance. Personally, I love this school very much , but I don't enjoy rallies, I think non-mandatory rallies would bring about much more positive results than required ones.

And in response to Davids quote,

-Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.

Posted by Gabepiqr at Thursday, November 01, 2007 13:13:38

Gabepiqr--

I was thinking along the same lines as you... perhaps a place to work on homework or do something productive if the student did not want to participate in a rally scheduled during the school day. I believe we only have one rally, Homecoming, that is during the day. The others are during lunch.

Thank you everyone for the praise regarding my reading of the Courier and comments. I encourage my Leadership students to read the Courier too; I want them to hear what their fellow students are saying, gain insight and perspective. Have a great weekend -- we all get an extra hour of it!

Posted by Mr. Rojas at Thursday, November 01, 2007 22:52:58

i'm glad that my opinion may cause some action to solve the issue. i appreciate your feedback Mr. Rojas and everyone else's comments. I hope you continue to read Collins Comment.

Posted by DC at Friday, November 02, 2007 07:50:43

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