As the winter months drag on, the weather is cold and miserable, the mornings and afternoons are dark and dingy, and student energy levels are quite low. However, Middle School Spirit Week turns this around and is a really fun time to be in and around Middle School. Last week there was a buzz of excitement and a level of energy to lift us out of the winter months. Spirit Week helps us to recharge, re-energize and refocus for the remaining few months of the school year. Spirit Week is undoubtedly a lot of fun, but there is so more to Spirit Week than simply having fun.

Student Leadership

Spirit Week was planned and led by our Middle School Student Council members for the other Middle School students. The ideas and plans for the week were entirely student-led. This provides an excellent opportunity for students to develop leadership skills, to plan and execute projects from beginning to end, to consider the logistics of planning large events and to learn from any obstacles and challenges they may encounter along the way. A huge thank you goes from me to Student Council for creating such a fabulous experience for all of us. I would also like to acknowledge the time and support of Ms Freeburn, our teacher-advisor for MS Student Council who gave countless hours of her time to guide and support our Student Council as they prepared for and led the Spirit Week activities.

Teamwork

Spirit Week activities were collaborative and encouraged students to work together with other students in their homeroom. There was an element of competition to the week where each homeroom could collect points for participation in the dress-up themes and lunchtime activities and could gain additional points for success in the activities. As the week evolved, so too did the level of homeroom participation, excitement and team work. Congratulations to 8FS who were the winning homeroom at the end of the week. They received their special prize at the action-packed Spirit Week Assembly on Friday afternoon - ask the students about their prize! Special thanks go to all our homeroom teachers for helping to encourage and support the homeroom teams during Spirit Week.

Community-Building

Spirit Week helped to further develop our sense of Middle School community. There was a healthy excitement and level of energy around Middle School, beyond our homeroom teams, that grew during the week and continues into this week. Although points and prizes were awarded for homeroom teams, there was also a prize for the grade-level with the most points. Congratulations to Grade 8 who enjoyed a pizza lunch today as their prize. The culminating event of the week was the Middle School Dance on Friday evening, also led by our students. Thank you to all the teachers who helped in so many ways to ensure the success of our first Middle School Spirit Week. Thank you to all students who participated and to all parents who helped encourage and support their children to get involved.