School spirit can be seen in  pictures of packed stands at high school football games or from videos of students walking the halls in wacky outfits and costumes for their school’s spirit days. 

Two students from StuCo and two students from the LINK club are chosen to be responsible for all things spirit. StuCo students become spirit commissioners and LINK leaders become spirit leaders. Mia Palazzola and Marshal Wiater are this year’s spirit commissioners and Emily Lyng and Patrick Nettler are this year’s spirit leaders. 

Spirit commissioners decide on the themes for spirit days regarding fundraising and Homecoming week. Spirit leaders decide on themes for the sports games, including the Friday Night Lights football games. 

“I love school spirit, it makes it just like a better atmosphere,” junior Mia Palazzola said.

A survey conducted by Harris Poll found that students who consider themselves to have school spirit perform academically better than students who are less involved with school spirit. The poll also found that 92% of students that self identified as having school spirit feel that they have a meaningful and connected relationship with peers.

“I think adding a particular criteria to a theme, like the ones we did for [HOCO week] instead of just a color makes people more likely to participate,” senior Marshal Wiater said. 

The survey also showed that 89% of principals surveyed directly tied school spirit to higher student achievement. 

“Spirit day’s purpose is to show your love and passion for the school, spirit day is pretty much what you want it to be,” senior Patrick Nettler said.

When asked why they enjoy spirit days, THS students have a wide array of answers, but many students said they enjoy seeing their peers express their creativity and seeing how spirited their fellow peers are.