photo provided by @huskycountry
Washington’s Spirit Week isn’t happening anytime soon due to the fear of COVID-19. Spirit Week was known as a five day combination of events. It usually leads up to a football game and is then followed by the Homecoming dance. Decorations and music would be placed and played throughout the school week, as freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors dress up in different outfits or costumes that relate to their class theme. In addition to dressing up, different grade levels performed class skits in the gym every day, often based around a certain Disney movie. On Friday, everyone would wear black and orange for Husky Pride Day. But with online learning in place, Spirit Week is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
At this time it’s still unclear as to when Spirit week will happen. ”Spirit week is not cancelled, but it’s postponed to a later date,” says Michael Soltau, Activities Director at Washington. He also said that they won’t be able to do Spirit Week after a certain amount of time, and that they might have to move it to March, along with the football game. They are, however, planning a virtual Spirit week.
If postponed or canceled, students will enjoy a version of Spirit Week online.However, will students enjoy a virtual Spirit Week? Raine Taylor, a junior, said “I don’t know if it’d be as fun online compared to being in person. It may lose its charm.’’ The class of 2022 officers agree that in the debate between having it online or pushing it to a later date, they prefer the latter. In an interview, the officers said, “I think that having an online Spirit Week would not be the same… I think that everyone would rather postpone it so that we can have more time and actually have fun.” But Mr. Soltau has said that he plans on doing an online version of Spirit Week and having the usual one later on in the year. In an interview he said, “We are in the process of planning a virtual Spirit Week for early December. At the same time, we are prepared for the traditional Spirit Week in case we come back to campus.” He also mentioned that if we don’t return in the spring, then they will plan a second virtual Spirit Week. And though many students are no doubt disappointed about it being cancelled, perhaps there is hope that it shall continue in the future.
Raven Arroyo is a senior that grew up in Fremont. This is their second year at the Hatchet and they are interested in writing about books, movies, tv shows, and video games. They enjoy reading, riding their bike, taking care of their plants, painting, and writing short stories. Raven can often be found carrying around a notebook to write down ideas for possible stories. They hope that someday they will be able to publish a book of their own.