Hancock Needs More School Spirit for Sports and Homecoming

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Hancock Needs More School Spirit for Sports and Homecoming

Sept. 28, 2022

An editorial written and read by Juan Arellano, a Hancock College Prep senior

Many student-athletes at Hancock College Prep do their homework and then go to practice. When game time comes around, they prepare to take the win and put the school's name up high but with little to no supporters.  In regards to Hancock, we have little to no history that many people can be proud of and little to no school spirit whatsoever. At volleyball games, for example, the stands are scarce and little to no supporters are there cheering.

Students and athletes don’t interact much with each other like at other schools such as St. Laurence, Mount Carmel, and Lane Tech.  These schools stand out from the rest because of their sports but more so because of the school spirit and history that those schools have inside their building. These schools can give Hancock an insight on how to have a better school spirit.

 When searching up some of the high schools mentioned above and their websites, they have certain sections like ours: Mission, Athletics. For example, “St. Laurence is a Catholic college preparatory high school rooted . . . [in] the pursuit of excellence in academics and athletics.” Their school reinforces the pursuit in academics and in athletics, which is something we don’t do at our school and in our mission--which affects the way our students are at our school.

St. Laurence has a student section in their school that goes to all the games, which is called the Black and Gold Machine (@BGMachineSTL on Twitter).  They keep a very loud fan section. In this social media account, we see the type of pride the people have for the school.     

Official Twitter account of the Black & Gold Machine for St. Laurence 

Mount Carmel also has a website, which holds what their school has and represents in a nutshell. On their website, Mount Carmel’s president’s message is, “We challenge our students to grow academically, spiritually, socially and athletically through programs and activities that meet them where they are, hold them to high standards, and support them as they achieve new heights.” Mount Carmel is #1 ranked in the state in football and school spirit goes hand in hand with that because at home games, they have their stands packed with students from their supportive school. The athletes see that so they try their best to give their fans what they want.  That has surely helped them become #1.

 

Mt. Carmel even catches the attention of the local newspaper as seen here: junior quarterback Blainey Dowling scoring a touchdown in the opening week win over St. Rita. (photo courtesy of The Beverly Review)

 Some may say that the players are the ones causing the top rating, but fans have a big boost in the players’ confidence because they know their whole school has their backs and supports them.

Hancock can learn to do the same thing when we face other schools in different sports to let the athletes know we believe in them and have their backs.

I interviewed a senior from Lane Tech who was willing to give me insight on the school regarding its education policy and school spirit. He said that Lane Tech gives a certain amount of homework depending on the classes students take like AP, Dual Credit, or honors, just like Hancock. His school has such a good school spirit because most of the kids there do a lot of things together. “Lane Tech has a very good history which many of the students and myself are proud of.” 

Most people there try to go to games because they want to show other students and schools that theirs is the best, making future generations want to go to that school. “Since I was a freshman till now, I have seen that our School Spirit has increased significantly,” said the Lane Tech student in the interview. He said that he himself and his friends play sports at the school and so many other people in his school do, too, so that's what helps a lot.

He said that some advice that he would give to a school is to try to create more events where people of all sorts can be involved because that creates a strong connection between the school and its students. Hancock can learn that we as students have to create a history and environment that everyone can join instead of being non-participatory towards one another.

As a school, we have to create a history that makes the teens at this school be proud of and try to represent it as the best.

• The principal, assistant principals, and athletic director should enforce excellence in athletics and create many more events that can include various types of groups we have in school.
• The announcements should let students know about the games
• Non-athlete students should go and support Hancock teams and participate in various events
• Athletes should try to spread the word about their schedule and bring good results that make people want to come to the games.

 Next week, we have Spirit Week so everyone should participate and have fun because that's when we as a school can all interact together and begin a new change.

• Monday Oct 3 - Pajama Day (Support strong mental health)
• Tuesday Oct. 4 - Sports Day (Support your favorite team or competitor)
• Wednesday Oct. 5 - Wear Pink Day (Support Breast Cancer Awareness Month)
• Thursday Oct. 6 - Spirit Day/ Class Colors for Pep Rally (Show your class pride! Freshmen wear black, sophomores wear white, juniors wear grey. seniors wear maroon.)
• Friday Oct. 7 - Celebrity Day (Support someone who inspires you)

This editorial was written in Hancock’s journalism class for the school paper, The Signature.

The audio recording and editing software was made possible through a grant from the Illinois Press Foundation and the Illinois Farm Bureau.