First of all, I want to let you know that I tried to write this post yesterday, and I got halfway through it. But then, all of the sudden I got this pop-up that said that Sitebuilder needed to update. It wouldn't let me copy what I had written, and within several seconds, poof, everything was gone. Yeah. So. Just thought I'd let you know.
This past week was School Spirit Week, a special week annually celebrated at my school. You guys probably all have spirit weeks or something similar, but I can't be sure. Basically, it's when the three grades of the school (sixth, seventh, and eighth) and the staff compete to see who has the most school spirit. This is done by dressing in certain themed clothes each day of the week:
Class Colors Day (Monday) - Sixth graders wear green, seventh graders wear red, eighth graders wear blue, staff wears black
Role Reversal Day (Tuesday) - Students dress as teachers, teachers dress as students
What on Earth are You Wearing Wednesday (Wednesday) - Dress in the strangest outfit possible; double points if your outfit is super wacky
Decades Day (Thursday) - Sixth graders dress in 60s fashion, seventh graders in 70s, eighth graders in 80s, and staff in the decade they graduated high school in
Spirit Day (Friday) - Dress in the school colors, blue and white
Class Colors Day, What on Earth are You Wearing Wednesday, and Spirit Day are annual things; the other two days differ over the passing years. During first period, the teachers would tally up how many people dressed accordingly, and e-mail the results to the office. They were then totaled up, and the standings would be announced at the end of last period. The final results were to be announced at the conclusion of the talent show, which was traditionally held on Spirit Day. Also, donations would be collected during lunch for some charity, and if enough money was collected, we'd get to watch teachers getting pied.
Spirit Week has a reputation for being rigged. To welcome the sixth graders into the school, they come out in first every year. Eighth grade is always in second, seventh in third, and staff last. Yet people still participate for the sake of participating, or with the secret hope that they'll somehow win.
On Monday, I threw on my sky blue Pikachu shirt, and that was that. However, Monday was a B-day, meaning I had gym class first period. Everyone would be wearing their gym clothes. Ms. P asked for a show of hands of those who wore blue. The majority of girls raised their hands. I didn't think this was a very good idea; what if they were lying? Regardless, my gym clothes were blue as well. At the end of the day, it was announced that sixth grade was in fourth place, seventh grade was in third place, staff was in second, and eighth grade was in the lead!
I had no idea what to wear for Role Reversal Day, so I didn't dress up at all. Seemed like a lot of other kids suffered the same fate. They all claimed to be dressed as gym teachers, but Mr. Wiest, who I had first period, didn't count them. Only a few kids actually dressed the part properly. It was funny to see teachers walking around in the clothing they thought we'd wear. Mr. Wiest, for some reason, was wearing pink slippers which were clearly too small for him. When the results were announced, everything was the same, except the staff and eighth graders switched positions! :o
I had a lot of fun on What on Earth are You Wearing Wednesday. The day before, I went to Goodwill and picked out some freaky clothes. That's really the only time we shop at Goodwill-- when we need a weird costume of some sort. That's where I bought my golfer costume for the play in fifth grade. The picture below shows my outfit:

Pretty sweet, huh? I was also wearing mismatched tie dye soccer socks, which are not shown in the above picture. Sadly, not too many people dressed as weird as me. I got a lot of funny looks, but who cares? Isn't the point of WoEaYWW to dress in the weirdest outfit possible? But hey, I did get double points =D At the end of the day, eighth grade was in the lead again!
I ended up not dressing up for Decades Day as well. Honestly, a lot of the clothes people wore that day looked like they could also qualify for the day before's competition :) Eighth grade was still in the lead!
I slipped on my spelling bee shirt that I mentioned in an Archives post for Friday. It was blue and white, but the ironic thing was it showed the elementary school's mascot. Oh well. I also wore four blue, white, or a combination of the two bracelets. Most of the school participated that day. All of the periods were cut short several minutes to make time for the talent show. After math, the last period before homebase, we headed down to the gym for the show. Everyone in the school was crowded onto the bleachers, all dressed in blue and white. It was quite a sight! I got a front row seat, but I had to sit next to Mrs. L D: Mrs. R and Mr. V, who was my social studies teacher in fifth grade but has since become an AIS teacher at the middle school, were hosting the event. The two of them are both great teachers with great senses of humor. All throughout the thing they were telling lame jokes that sounded like they were ripped off a Popsicle stick. Example: What did the tree say to the math teacher? Gee, I'm a tree (supposed to sound like 'geometry'). But they were so lame they were funny, and the two of them kept the show lively and fun. There were a number of great acts, but some were just... bad, like a tone deaf seventh grader who nearly made my ears bleed. There were two kids who tried to play 'Eye of the Tiger' on the piano and marimba, but they really didn't capture the song. A singing group was using music with the vocals kept in it, and it was hard to hear them over the singer. Oh, and the stand up comedian. His first joke was cute (but somewhat overused) but his others were pretty sad. I can't even remember half of them. There was a seventh grade guy who sang like a girl worse than Justin Bieber. His voice went higher than mine can go... and I'm a soprano. He wasn't that bad, though. One of the more unique acts starred a duo of girls, who danced in wheelchairs! The act wasn't that great though; sometimes their coordination was off. All of the other acts were pretty much your average singing or dancing act.
When the talent show was over, it was time for the moment we'd all been waiting for... the final results for Spirit Week! Mrs. R waited until the entire gym was silent, and then read off the winners. "In fourth place... SIXTH GRADE!" Whaaaat? The sixth graders didn't win? What the...? Cheers filled the gym, mainly those of the seventh and eighth graders who now knew they had placed higher. "Third place... FACULTY AND STAFF!" The crowd roared, and Mrs. R scowled. "In second place..." The seventh and eighth graders were sweating in anticipation. "... SEVENTH GRADE!" Deafening screams and cheers rang through the air. "FIRST PLACE GOES TO EIGHTH GRADE!" The crowd was still screaming as Mrs. R announced the winner. I couldn't believe it! I thought they'd rig it again for sure!
When the crowd settled down, Mrs. R announced that it was time for the teachers to get pied. She read off the list of victims; notable teachers included Mr. L, the accelerated math teacher I had last year and at the beginning of this year, Mr. F, my awesome sixth grade science, ELA, and GAP teacher, and Mr. V. We had raised almost a thousand dollars, meaning every one of the entered teachers would be pied. The teachers walked out behind cut outs of cartoon characters, and a team of selected eighth graders were called up to grab a pie. There was a countdown, and then all at once, the kids smashed the pies in the teachers' faces. I didn't have a really good view of the event, but just the thought of it was funny.
The faculty band wrapped up the best School Spirit Week I've ever been part of :)