Oak Park High School is onto the final day of the first 2024-2025 Spirit Week. This week students of all grades were invited to wear theme inspired outfits, leading up to the homecoming rally.
“I am excited to wear our class colors because I love supporting our school,” sophomore Grace Popham said.
Popham is one of nine ASB members on the spirit committee, the group of students who put their time and effort into formulating spirit events.
“When we come up with spirit days we try to create days with three things. First the spirit days should match the dance theme, next the spirit days should be fun and trending, and third it should be themes that everyone can participate in,” ASB director Anastasia Taousakis said.
While it is important for students to join in dressing up, Taousakis shares that student participation is up from previous years. Students who dress up earn spirit points, collected by ASB students and tallied up at the end of each day. These spirit points are the baseline for the rally, and can make the difference between winning and losing when two grades have similar game scores.
“My favorite spirit day this week had to be twin day,” senior Tate Creason said. “It was a really fun moment to watch our school come together and see all the people matching.”
As it is Creason’s last homecoming rally, she has hopes of the seniors winning. While they do have seniority, earning enough spirit points through games will be a challenge. Going into Friday seniors are in last place with 213 points, freshman follow with 241, then sophomores with 292 and juniors in first place with 363 points.
“It’s going to be a super close game,” sophomore Maeve Homesley said.
After the rally OPHS students still have much to look forward to: the whiteout homecoming game starts at 7 p.m. Friday night, where the senior homecoming court will be revealed. Last but certainly not least, the “Enchantment Under the Sea” homecoming dance is on Saturday from 7-11 p.m. and tickets are available at the Student Store or on the OPHS Web Store.
“Being able to see the hard work that goes into [homecoming] just makes me appreciate it more,” freshman ASB member Ameet Cohen said. “I hope everyone enjoys it!”
For more information on spirit weeks, rallies, dances and more visit the OPHS Instagram or Calendar.
