If anyone would know the history of Inglemoor’s school spirit, it would be Dave Allemeier (he/him). Allemeier graduated from Inglemoor in 1979, where he has taught at since 1986. Inglemoor’s school spirit was very different back then. Allemeier recalls that in the ‘90s, Inglemoor was voted the most spirited school in Washington.
School spirit — while it declined in the 2000s and after COVID — is back on the rise. Allemeier said that school spirit just keeps going after the ball starts rolling, since it’s passed down through generations.
“It seems to be changing. Going to a couple of the football games, you kind of see a lot more — again, large student body, there, excited, lot of people dressed up,” Allemeier said. “But it’s not the same, because it was that way at school, too.”
But school spirit is more than just dressing up. Participating in sports and clubs and supporting students who are a part of them are all a part of it.
“The majority of our school are pretty involved with something,” Assistant Principal Joe Mismas (he/him) said. “They found something, or they’ve created something that demonstrates that community in school spirit.”
At spirit assemblies, students stand up to acknowledge they were a part of a school sports team. Mismas said that by the end of the year, around 80% of students stand at these assemblies, showing their pride for the place they belong at high school. He loves watching students grow throughout their years in high school and finding their community within Inglemoor.
“They reflect on the experience they had in those four years and reflect on that in a very positive way, that, ‘Hey, I met all these people, other students, friends, staff and I participated in this group that made me feel good and built confidence about who I am,’” Mismas said.
Mismas said school spirit gives students a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves. He also said that good school spirit can lead to better student performance. Allemeier agreed.
“If you’re not enjoying yourself in anything that you’re doing, it kind of diminishes your performance, your ‘want to be there,’” Allemeier said.“When we were really, really crazy with spirit, I don’t remember a lot of kids not coming to school. Now you get a few more absences.”
But ASB is working to improve it. Senior and ASB Spirit Committee member Seth Monpas-Huber (he/him) said Inglemoor is known for a packed student section, decked out in black and gold at sports games.
“We were always kind of renowned for school spirit,” Monpas-Huber said. “We always have insane super fans that go to the games and wear the most crazy outfits you’ve ever seen, shred shirts and everything.”
Sports are a hub for school spirit, but many sports need a spotlight put on them for students to attend. ASB does this by setting up “pack the stands” games for sports that don’t receive as much attention as football or basketball games, which can have a large impact on the players.
“I’m on the soccer team. When there’s a big crowd of people, I am way more excited and pumped up for the game because there’s so many people cheering for our school and for me and all of my teammates. I think it has a very positive impact on the athletes,” junior and Spirit Committee member Olivia Vannoy (she/her) said.
In addition to encouraging participation in sports events, the Spirit Committee also raises spirit by planning events during the less eventful points in the year, when sports aren’t keeping school spirit high.
“That’s when we use our pep assemblies, and we do our spirit weeks and different stuff like that to give them something to look forward to,” Monpas-Huber said.
Twenty three out of 133 Inglemoor students rarely or never participate in spirit weeks, while 76 out of 133 students only sometimes participate in spirit weeks, according to a Nordic poll.
“Some students feel like if they want to participate in a spirit day, they may feel they can’t because they know a lot of people might not do it, and they don’t want to feel like the odd one out,” Vannoy said.
Many students also hesitate to dress up for black-and-gold Fridays, a school tradition. The same Nordic poll showed that 68 out of 133 Inglemoor students know about black-and-gold Fridays but don’t participate, and 34 out of 133 students don’t know about black-and-gold Fridays. ASB has been trying to encourage more participation by having ASB students dress up to try to get peers to do the same. They also stand at the door to Sherwood’s Forest on some Friday mornings, giving out candy to anyone wearing black and gold.
“It’s something we definitely should be putting out there more, on the ASB social media and stuff like that,” Vannoy said. “We post about it, but I think it should be prioritized more. We should talk about it on GMI, or hang up flyers around the school so that people know.”
