High school students showed their school spirit by dressing up, attending school events and cheering on their fellow Rams during Spirit Week, from Monday, Oct. 16 to Friday, Oct. 20. In addition to showing off their spirit, RHS students raised a whopping $7,000 for Habitat for Humanity, which builds affordable housing in Morris County.
Daily Dress-Up Themes
Each Spirit Week day featured a unique dress-up theme. Teachers tallied up student participation at the beginning of the day during homeroom. At the end of the day, once the percentage of participation for each grade level and staff had been determined, Colin O’Meara and Brett Shuster, the student body president and vice president, announced the winning grade-level students or staff. The rankings ensured daily fun and friendly competition to help unify the RHS community.
The themes for this year’s Spirt Week included the following: Monday, Pajama Day; Tuesday, Olympic Color Day; Wednesday, Movie Day; Thursday, Salad Dressing Day and Friday, Ram Pride Day. The Friday of Spirit Week normally ends with the Pep Rally and Homecoming Game, but both were postponed until the following Monday, Oct. 23, due to the poor weather forecast, which led to a bonus Ram Pride dress-up day for students and staff alike.
Monday: Pajama Day
Monday, Oct. 16, eased students into the school week with a comfy and relaxing Pajama Day. Students and staff wore their coziest sleeping attire and displayed their spirit by wearing silly slippers and bringing blankets. At the end of the day, the juniors showed the most spirit, with 90.4% dressed in their jammies. The freshmen were close behind them in second place, with 88.3% dressed up. The sophomores and seniors came in third and fourth respectively, with staff trailing in last place.
“My favorite theme is definitely Pajama Day as we saw the most participation and the student body always enjoys this theme,” Shuster said.
Tuesday: Olympic Color Day
Tuesday, Oct. 17, launched Olympic Color Day. Every grade level wore a different color, and the school hallways looked like a sea of rainbows. Freshman wore yellow, sophomores wore green, juniors wore red, seniors wore blue and staff wore black. After taking fourth place on Monday, the seniors stepped up their spirit and won first place on Tuesday with 92% dressed up. Closely behind were the staff, with 90% dressed up. The juniors, sophomores and freshmen came in third, fourth and fifth place respectively.
Wednesday: Movie Day
Wednesday, Oct. 18 was Movie Day, and the student body looked like a cinematic masterpiece. Every grade level displayed their school spirit by wearing movie-themed outfits: Freshmen wore basketball jerseys for “Space Jam,” sophomores wore their favorite college hoodies for “Monsters University,” juniors dressed up for the beach for “Teen Beach Movie,” seniors were head to toe in pink for “Barbie” and staff wore baseball gear for the childhood favorite, “The Sandlot.” Once again, the seniors won with 72.1% dressed up. Closely behind, the staff took second place with 68.8%. Sophomores, juniors, and freshmen took third, fourth, and fifth place respectively.
Thursday: Salad Dressing Day
Thursday, Oct. 19 was an original, unique theme: Salad Dressing Day. The seniors awoke with the sun at Freedom Park for the annual Senior Sunrise event, decked out in their USA clothing for BBQ-style dressing. The juniors wore Western clothing for ranch dressing. The sophomores wore Hawaiian clothing for Thousand Island dressing. The freshmen wore Greek-inspired clothing for Caesar dressing. Lastly, the staff wore Ram gear for house dressing. Yet again, the seniors took first place with 72.7% dressed up. The staff took second place with 68.3% dressed up. Once again, sophomores, juniors, and freshmen took third, fourth, and fifth place respectively.
“I enjoyed the Senior Sunrise because it brought our class together, and we got to socialize and take fun photos before school on Thursday,” senior Kaitlyn DiCataldo said.
Friday: Ram Pride Day
Finally, Friday, Oct. 20 was Ram Pride Day. The school halls were decked in RHS blue and white. Freshman and seniors wore blue, while sophomores and juniors wore white. On their final day to display school spirit, seniors came in first place with 92.7% dressed up, with freshmen close behind with 85.6%. Juniors, sophomores, and staff took third, fourth, and fifth place respectively.
Seniors Win the Week
In the end, the seniors took first place overall, showing an enormous amount of pride for their beloved RHS. “My favorite part of Spirit Week is how each grade unites and wears the same thing; it helps promote school spirit,” O’Meara said. Just as importantly, he added, “The school was also able to make a difference this week, raising over $7,000 for Habitat for Humanity.”
