There is no time of year when Barnstable High School resembles the halls of a “High School Musical” scene. In an idealistic world, every student would feel included in school spirit and activities would unify the school, instead of creating splits by grade and personality. Although the phrase “Have a Red Raider Day!” is constantly spewed at us from the time of our terrifying eighth grade induction, there are still plenty of students by senior year who will never be seen at a hockey game or be caught dead at a Homecoming dance.

There are 1,900 of us in one location and we are seriously divided. A large portion of students have crazy schedules and can’t be busied with things like sports games and extra clubs. Another fraction of our student body just want to move on to college and get out of high school as unscathed as possible.

The counterpart to those factions is the die-hard Stable fans who never miss a Barnstable game, and go to great lengths to be part of things like drama club, dodgeball, spirit week– basically anything that promotes Barnstable pride. However, these are usually upperclassmen-dominated events, which can be intimidating for newer students at BHS. This only widens the age gap in our school and feeds the habit of students only getting involved senior year.

As a sports powerhouse, a great deal of our spirit is produced through our fan sections. Academics are a strong base for our school and something that should be valued as such, but the sense of community produced by watching our sports teams seems just as, if not more, vital for a healthy school setting. And yet we don’t have pep rallies like our neighboring towns, and maybe if Barnstable could use our turf for a pep rally every once in a while prior to big games or important academic events, it could boost morale in students and athletes alike.

Over the past few years, there has been a noticeable decline in the competition to make each class’ events better than years before. Fights to see who could have the best Prom theme or biggest fan section at the football games have increasingly died down each year. Even Junior Prom completely stopped because students stopped stepping up to come up with themes and fundraisers to make it happen. It seems that fun, relaxed activities run by students that fundraise for our classes, like dodgeball, are some of the most successful events in our school. Maybe we don’t need a formal dance that makes us focus on appearance. Senior week events and the eighth grade orientation are much more casual activities that students seem to enjoy. Adding more events like this in the odd seasonal gap between Spirit Week and March Madness would keep our spirits high and help the school year move along quicker.

Think back to middle school when you might have been a part of those “activity clusters” depending on what year you were at BIS. No one is suggesting knitting during extended TGA, but we could use that time to do interactive things like board games, debates, yoga, or maybe something a teacher is passionate about and would like to share with students. New groups of people could help us break out of our current groups of friends. Extended blocks almost always end up being study halls or forty-minute prison sentences, so trying a throwback to the cluster activity might be beneficial to the school as a whole.

It is inevitable to have different expressions of school spirit in any high school. But making events more accessible and appealing to our entire school would help eliminate anyone feeling bored or left out. Creating recreational or club sports that are less intense than regular tryouts might cultivate grade-wide friendships that you wouldn’t normally find if you don’t play a team sport. If you think an activity is boring or lame, speak up to your peers to make a change. Insight and B2BTV are both accessible media outlets in our school that can broadcast new events or clubs if you have an idea for one.

There will always be the group of kids who are part of Barnstable High School, but not part of its community. There will always be students who don’t care, and it shows. Though high school isn’t everything, the five years you spend here are a huge part of shaping who you are before becoming an adult. No one is forcing you to suddenly break into song or choose between drama club and the basketball team, but you should make the best of your time here by being supportive of your school and creating memories for the future.