For a school as large as ours, school spirit is often scarce among students, generally only inspiring parts of the student population. However, this year, ASB has been significantly more active in promoting various activities around campus, which has benefited the school community by raising general student involvement within the school community.
Traditionally, school rallies have been crucial in fostering student enthusiasm, encouraging community among students. However, due to the pandemic, all rallies were moved outdoors to the football field bleachers. Thus student enthusiasm for the rallies generally lowered, despite efforts from student government to generate school spirit for these events.
This year, with the switch back to an indoor setting in the gym, enthusiasm for rallies have seen noticeable improvement. Having students together in a smaller area allows them to be more immersed in the event, creating an infectious enthusiasm that spreads throughout the audience; for example, everyone held up and waved their phone flashlights during the school’s alma mater in the homecoming rally. Although some of the competitions on the gym floor felt a little haphazardly put together, the rally was entertaining and had plenty of staff and student involvement.
There are also significantly more school-wide activities this year, with the introduction of First Friday or the planned Valentine’s Dance. Recurring events such as Homecoming have also seen some additions, such as the Homecoming Festival, which took place the day before the homecoming game. The festival has also helped connect the students to the wider Milpitas community, with local businesses participating along with student-run organizations.
Another new addition was the Maui benefit concert, which was partially organized by the student government, as they were in charge of the promotion and planning of the event itself. The show included a performance from Manava and Crossing Rain, encouraging students to donate money to the Maui school district, which suffered from the Lahaina. The event was well-received among students and raised over $10,000.
Ultimately, the student government has done an excellent job putting on school events this year, with more promotion and enthusiasm for each event. Although the school’s population size will continue to make unifying the school community difficult, this year has already seen a step in the right direction, thanks to ASB and leadership. If they can continue to build on these efforts, the MHS community will have a much more unified and vibrant school environment.