Students at Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute (VCI) turned the last week of school before the Christmas break into “Spirit Week”. Activities filled the school right before the holidays.
The week was laid out with different dress codes every day.
On Monday, a holiday breakfast took place for students and members of the community. On Monday, students were told to dress up as stereotypical Canadians; plaid and tuques were a must. On Tuesday, students had to dress in their ugly festive sweaters. Wednesday was ‘Wear Your Winter Apparel Day’. On Thursday, students wore their festive hats and on Friday, it was pyjama day and bingo.
Creating these events was a challenge for the student council because it wanted to include all religions and cultures in the fun.
“It’s hard to please everyone, but the student council must be respectful of those who do not celebrate Christmas.” said Grade 10 student Priya McAndrew who is on the student council events committee.
“We planned our spirit days based on winter-themed activities, as opposed to anything that would invoke religion.”
Thanks to the student participation in Spirit Week, student council is planning to prepare more of these events.
Matthew Williams, the student council teacher representative, has also been watching the participation levels of the students.
“Some events are more successful than others. Spirit Week was pretty good,” said Williams. “The communication side could’ve been better. The Student Council has started a Twitter account and we have a Facebook page. This is how young people communicate.”
This article was submitted by VCI student Madeleine Fortin. Madeleine is also an 88.7 Vankleek FM radio intern, reading and editing community announcements every week to air on Vankleek Hill’s community radio station, 88.7 Vankleek FM.
