Participants of the Nuthouse celebrate a victory by throwing white powder and streamers in the air to represent the night’s theme: white out. The Northwood Nuthouse is a representation of what school spirit looks like, and a lot of students are a part of this organization. Some students even classified this as the most spirited thing about the school. However, many students find Northwood to be less spirited than they think it should be.
“A lot of students at Northwood have a bad morale of the school,” sophomore class president Shamar Wilson said.
Some students say that Northwood has a contagious negative attitude that spreads throughout the student body.
“I think [Northwood] doesn’t really have great school spirit,” junior Mackenzie Mason said. “I think there should be more teacher, staff and student involvement. I think that teachers have a lot of school spirit, but the students do not. I think that there would be more fun activities that we could do to involve the students instead of just spirit week. If there were activities that got the students more involved and the students enjoyed, we would have more school spirit.”
However, freshman Mia Bone feels that the Northwood population does show spirit.
“I’d like to think that for the most part that this school has spirit, because when we have big games, everyone participates, and during spirit week, a lot of people dress up,” Bone said.
Principal Justin Bartholomew believes that the alumni of Northwood play a critical part in the spirit of the school.
“I think the biggest source of school pride comes from our alumni,” Bartholomew said. “Especially if they grew up here, they love this place.”
Bartholomew believes that he won’t be able to excite his children about going to Northwood as well as someone who grew up here in Pittsboro and was a student at the school.
“I think that’s why our alumni base is so important, because they really are a connection to what we have done in the past and what we could be doing to get things going,” Bartholomew said.
History teacher Skip Thibault thinks the lack of spirit could be directly correlated to the start of Northwood itself.
“School spirit is something that goes back and something that needs to be part of the culture of the school,” Thibault said. “Part of it is that we haven’t had a lot of continuity. I’ve been here for 18 years, and there’s been seven different principals, so if you don’t have the continuity in leadership it’s harder to have people get excited about the school.”
Bartholomew believes the idea that social media has influenced the lack of school spirit.
“Back then, there was no social media,” Bartholomew said. “All contact was face to face, and when you’re out with your friends, you’re out with your friends, and you have the common interest of going to the same school. Now, everyone belongs to everything. Yes, you belong to Northwood High School, but there’s this group and that group and then there’s social media. You’re connected to all these other people and a worldwide network that we belong to, so their circle of who they communicate with goes far outside of Northwood. Getting to know face to face with another person and interacting with them, not on social media, but in person, is a lost skill.”
Data Manager Bonnie Morris talks about her days as a Northwood student in the 70s.
“There is not as much school spirit as there used to be in the school,’” Morris said. “I think it’s because [Northwood] is a bigger school, and times have changed.”
Morris mentioned that there used to be nothing to do in Pittsboro; like Bartholomew, she believes that new technology has had an effect on the spirit of students.
“We came to after school functions all the time and ball games because it was the thing to do,” Morris said. “We didn’t have computers, we didn’t have cellphones, we didn’t have any of that stuff. If we wanted to talk to each other, you had to either go home with them for the weekend or all meet at the ball games.”
Junior Kristin Kennihan, a former Northwood student now attending Broughton High School in Raleigh, says lack of school spirit is just a part our generation.
“Everyone either is engaged in their phone or buried in their laptop [at Broughton],” Kennihan said. “No one really communicates anymore, and it is sad that our generation has come to this.”
So the question is: What can be done about the lack of school spirit at Northwood?
Student council organized Charger Day, where students had the opportunity to participate in outdoor activities and interact with new people instead of sitting in a desk doing classwork all day. While some students found Charger Day worthwhile, others made the decision to stay home.
Bartholomew estimated about 20 percent of the student population did not attend: a large amount of students being seniors.
“[Charger Day] was fun because we got to meet new people and play games with them, and even if the games were lame to some students, they were still fun to me,” junior Daisy Kilgore said.
On the other hand, some students felt that Charger Day was a waste of time.
“I thought my time could be well spent somewhere else and doing something else,” Mason said. “I personally, honestly, would’ve rather had class. It’s just not something that I want to do.”
Kilgore suggested an alternative option.
“Maybe if students didn’t want to do games, they could have a spot where they could read or do homework, not feeling like they are forced to participate in the activities,” Kilgore said.
Mason even offered a completely different scenario instead of Charger Day.
“[We could have something] maybe like a movie day, something that is more appealing to students,” Mason said. “I feel like Charger Day put us more back into elementary school and middle school.”
Bartholomew disagrees and believes students should not pass up an opportunity where they can meet new people and interact with each other.
“I think that students think a lot of things are childish, and I think that’s sad that someone feels like they have to be so grown up that they can’t go have a fun and competitive day,” Bartholomew said.
Bartholomew believes that the students who don’t participate in school events are doing so to their own detriment.
“You have one opportunity at high school,” Bartholomew said. “If you decide you’re going to bail all the time and live behind your computer or your phone, then you certainly can make that decision, but I’m just telling you, not just for high school, you’re going to miss out on a lot of your life.”
– By Heather Drake & Emma Quasny
