Northwood ASB plans to address diminished school spirit this year with hopes of increasing student participation in recreational non-academic school activities.
ASB members collaborated with student leaders from other high schools at the CORE leadership conference at UC Santa Barbara in late July to generate ideas and plans for Northwood. ASB plans to transition out from old molds that have not been working in the past to implementing newer traditions at Northwood to increase school spirit in the upcoming year.
“If we’re able to blend some of our new ideas and Northwood traditions, we can build up the excitement that both ASB and the general student population have been looking for,” ASB president senior Muhanad Hilal said.
Participation in dress-up weeks, lunchtime events and overall student body engagement in school activities has been noticeably low recently, partly due to the class of 2024 being the last class to have had their high school years impacted by the pandemic with online classes, according to Hilal. ASB hopes to foster genuine excitement for some of its events to make this year more fulfilling.
“The impact of participating becomes so clear when you see how much connection it fosters within each class,” ASB vice president senior Maryam Quarishi said. “We want to prioritize building our student body back up from the basics and executing each of these events in a way that excites all the students.”
So far, ASB has been actively engaging through the school-affiliated Instagram account and has begun early planning for the Homecoming dance taking place on Oct. 14. ASB released polls for this year’s Homecoming theme and song requests in early July through Instagram to encourage more student voices in these upcoming decisions through interactive reels posted by each class’s respective councils.
Although no specific details have been released, Spirit and Rally Commissioners are also developing plans to build a school community where students can connect to Northwood beyond academics and foster genuine ties to their peers through shared social experiences.
“A strong and cohesive student body makes all games, dances and rallies a million times more memorable and fun,” Spirit and Rally Commissioner junior Aadya Batra said. “Your participation can create a domino effect that can encourage everyone to participate in school events so all of us can be there for each other in these four years.”
