In recent school years, Lake Forest Academy has seen a rapid decline in school spirit. With the hit of COVID-19, faculty began to notice a decrease in student involvement, specifically in athletics and House Cup competitions. This trend continued after the class of 2022 graduated.
One of the House Cup Prefects, Eric Shen ‘25, discussed the change in school spirit from his freshman to senior year. He highlighted his first prep hockey game: “Everybody wore orange, someone carried a speaker, and everybody was so packed in and went crazy when the first goal was scored,” Shen said. Shen compared the game to current-day athletic events, sharing, “It feels good to have spirit, and now I think not as many people go to sports games.”
Advisor of House Cup Prefects Ackim Mpofu, alongside other Dean of Students office members, has been working to increase school spirit in multiple ways. It has proven to be a difficult task that takes many steps. “My first year in my role, I made sure to take inventory, and this year I have been intentional with how we want to improve school spirit,” Mpofu said. The Dean of Students office has looked back to past LFA traditions and also travelled to different schools to see what they do.
One event that came out of the vault this past fall was Field Day. Field day was an annual event that died off over the past decade. The intention of bringing back Field Day was to have a memorable event: “It’s something that everybody will remember,” Mpofu said. Additionally, the introduction of the four pillar pins has encouraged students to be part of the school community and feel good when they are rewarded with a pin.
House Cup Prefects Eric Shen ‘25 and Santiago Delgado ‘25 have both shown excitement and dedication to increasing school spirit. The two Prefects have introduced the new challenge of February Frog Hunt. Shen said February Frog Hunt was his favorite event to organize this school year: “Everyone was sending in submissions, and I had tons of emails every day. It was fun.” Shen highlighted two grades in particular: the freshmen and senior classes.
Freshmen have shown a competitive attitude towards school spirit, different from recent freshmen classes. “This year freshmen are pretty different, they are actually competing with seniors,” Shen said. Seniors are competing back with the freshmen, as it’s their last time to win the House Cup.
Still, despite the improvement that has come this school year, there is a need to increase school spirit in the upcoming years.
To increase school spirit in athletics, Mpofu suggested that when students attend a sporting event, they bring three friends with them. Also, there will be more time for students to complete activities such as the Lip Sync Battle. “I’m going to make a specific time where things have deadlines, for example in December houses can complete their banner” Mpofu said.
Much like Service Learning Day and Multicultural Day, which are both school days away from the classroom, there is hope to create a day committed to students collaborating with their houses. There is also the idea of having more Friday Morning Meeting spots be reused for House Cup challenges. “It’s about creating intentional time for houses to bond, so it’s easy for them to tap into the House Cup,” Mpofu shared.
Students can also take measures to increase school spirit. Faculty members believe a major way students can have an impact is through leading by example. In recent years, Delgado has been an honorable example of this idea. He is seen at many sporting events with a megaphone and puts his full effort into House Cup events.
School spirit has been lost at LFA, but this past school year has shown a turn for the better. With the measures taken, there is now a higher level of student engagement that will be passed on to future classes.
