The Future of Tradition

WEST IS IN NEED OF SCHOOL SPIRIT NOW MORE THAN EVER

At our high school reunions, we won’t talk about school. We’ll talk about our favorite teachers, old friends, and who was dating who… but most of all, we’ll probably talk about COVID-19. This pandemic is part of history, and our high school experiences will be forever impacted by it. Now, as people start to discuss ‘returning to normal,’ it reminds us of what we have been missing and what gave West Albany its unique school culture that thrived before the pandemic. Not only are the underclassmen of this year new to high school, only this year’s senior class has seen a full year of high school inside the walls of West, from pep assemblies to prom to the carnival-like end-of-year spring picnic. By next year, only a small number of students will be here to pass on the traditions and spirit that give our school character, something they proudly inherited from generations before them. West has the motto, ‘Where Excellence is a Strong Tradition,’ but a lot of our traditions have taken a hit from lockdown, distance learning and pandemic-related restrictions, like social distancing. While those measures were important, we are now moving to a more normal school experience, and we should take the time to rekindle some of the best parts of West Albany with a new emphasis on the importance of making our time here worthwhile. It is far from too late to find the collective spirit of the student body, but we need a new awareness of how important these feelings of unity are. Many students struggled through distance learning and are returning to school with one goal: surviving high

By Brynna Gritter Kenneke school. In these uncertain times, students are giving their all just to pass classes and make it through the day, but school shouldn’t just be about getting to the finish line. High school is a time to have valuable experiences that allow us to learn more about ourselves and the world. It is understandable that isolation made us lose motivation, but this is leading to many students missing out on being a part of our school. This loss of school spirit and culture is sad to see in a school known for its unique student culture, but we can still bring back these traditions, and now we have the chance to do even better, spending more time making sure every student has a chance to feel welcomed and experience West the way they deserve. Ultimately, the choice to have a rich school environment, or to just spend four years for a piece of paper without gaining anything more from our time and hard work, is up to each of us. The staff and leadership class of West can only do so much with all their hard work. We need to make a conscious choice to improve our school for ourselves, our peers, and future students. This means making an effort to connect with other students beyond our immediate small groups and reaching out to others who share this space with us. In past years, traditions have been passed on from upperclassmen to younger students through assemblies and demonstrations at events throughout the year. But with COVID-19 rules, we haven’t been able to have nearly as many of these experiences as usual. This means we must find new ways to interact with others. Juniors and seniors need to find new ways to inspire underclassmen to actively enjoy their high school experience, and younger students need to be ready to learn and find our own places in the school community. With the relaxing guidelines and increasing likelihood of us returning to a much more normal-seeming school life, it’s tempting just to go back to exactly what we know, how things used to be. However, going straight “back to normal” prevents us from learning anything from these events. This is a golden opportunity for us to take a look at what was working and what wasn’t, and make changes that promote inclusivity. This year, some great steps have been taken to welcome more students to comfortably share experiences, like the scholarships given out during Culinary food truck day, and the welcoming of non-binary students to join Powder Puff and Powder Tuff, and we need to move even further in that direction. Overall, in order to make West a better place, we students need to actively work to make our education better for us, and give what little effort we can to make it fun and worthwhile. While some students might argue that there’s no point in unnecessary effort when we’ll all graduate soon enough, even seniors still have plenty of opportunities to grow as people and make their lives better. After all, we spend over 35 hours a week within these walls, over 1,200 hours a school year. It stands to reason that we should try to make the most of it. So, strike up a conversation with someone new, cheer with the rest at the next event, try something interesting and different. Don’t let the dreary monotony of lockdown follow you to college.

When asked what traditions they missed most, multiple juniors and seniors said they missed pep assemblies. This is what they rembered made them so special:

Illustration above by Harvest Buchanan Photos below from 2019 WAHS Yearbook

The atmosphere of the pep assemblies and the juniors and seniors singing our alma mater as we left. Ky Barksdale Junior I miss how much energy we had as a school. It felt really cool to be part of a community. Sachi Wrigley Senior How loud everyone was, how we would group together in the band and scream. Hannah Ebbs Junior

It was just fun to be all together and feeling the school spirit, and it felt really cool to have so many kids together. Ally Willard Senior