Spirit Week is one of the most celebrated times of the school year, but with COVID-19 lockdown still in effect, the Student Council Association was forced to take action.

This week, which typically occurs the week leading up to the Homecoming dance, allows students to dress up to show their school spirit. However, the 2020-2021 school year proved challenging for planning for this year’s festivities. 

SCA president Maddie Campo faced many hurdles when planning Clover Hill’s first Online Spirit Week.

“It definitely was extremely hard to base completely virtually. Especially because most people don’t turn their cameras on in all of their classes. That’s why we included a day of just avatars to try to reach those who don’t want to turn their cameras on,” Campo said “Another challenge was that teachers really only see our faces if our cameras are on. This makes it hard for full outfits or big ideas including a lot of people.” 

SCA faculty sponsor Haley Ferguson faced many of the same problems while planning for Spirit Week.

“The main difficulty was trying to figure out how to encourage students to participate,” Ferguson said. “It was also difficult coming up with ideas that were less ‘traditional’ and more geared towards the virtual world.” 

Without Spirit Week functioning in person, the majority of activities typically enjoyed were no longer able to happen. Three of the canceled events were the powderpuff football game, homecoming, and the spirit walk. However, despite these obstacles, the SCA was able to work through difficulties and succeed in preserving the ideals of Spirit Week through a virtual environment.

 “I love thinking about what the students will like, and how we can make it fun and inclusive for everyone,” Ferguson said.

This year, Spirit Week fell on the days leading up to Halloween. Students were encouraged to do things like bring their pet to class, change their profile picture, or even wear their Halloween costume during class on Google Meet.

Despite all of these difficulties, the SCA remained determined to succeed against all odds. 

“I have a really great group of SCA officers that helped come up with ideas,” Ferguson said. “I think having students like that involved makes everything a little easier.”