In an effort to promote school spirit and add more events for students to look forward to, Free State has introduced new traditions, such as the Pep Walk, and has reinstated old traditions, such as State Night.
“These types of events are so important for school culture. When school culture is positive, students are more likely to come to school and be successful,” Assistant Principal Matthew Renk said.
One of these events, State Night, used to initiate the start of the winter sports season. After a long absence, head basketball coach Dwayne Paul said it was important to bring it back. State Night featured an introduction of all the winter sports teams, plus a variety of student games and contests with performances by the Spirit Squad, choir and the school’s pep band.
“State Night was something Free State did for years as an introduction of winter sports to the school and the community, so with State Night not happening for the last couple of years, we thought it was important to bring it back,” Paul said.
The Pep Walk is a new event where the Spirit Squad and band perform as a send-off for Free State’s teams traveling to State. Since Oct. 31, there have been three Pep Walks for three different sports: cross country, volleyball and unified bowling.
“[Pep Walks] give those students great recognition for something that they have accomplished,” senior Taylor Stucker said. “It was nice to see all your peers and teachers there for you and to support you even if they couldn’t attend the event.”
Sophomore Moses Minor, who has been a member of the Boys Cross Country team for the last two years, said having these events informs the student body of the achievements Free State students have accomplished, which he said has been a mood booster going into high-pressure meets.
While there are already plans to have more pep walks for the beginning winter sports, Renk said that, in the future, administration is interested in showing school spirit for a variety of activities around the school, aside from just sports.
“Whether it’s support for football or volleyball, or the school musical, debate or band. We have so many talented students at Free State who do amazing things. We must support all of them. School spirit and school culture are a big part of that,” Renk said.
Citing the success of these events’ debut year, Athletic Director Jason Schroeder said Free State plans to continue these traditions going forward.
“I do not have a set vision for what the future of State Night will look like in the future, but I’m open to its continued growth as we learn what works best for our students and community,” Schroeder said.
