Packed with events such as prom, spirit weeks, and rallies, spring semester is something many Drake high school students look forward to. However, due to COVID-19 concerns, in person school is cancelled for the rest of the semester, leaving our students disconnected. In accommodation, the Associated Student Body or ASB planned a way to reconnect students. 

Starting Monday, Apr. 13, until Sunday, Apr. 19, Drake is hosting its own virtual spirit week. This effort is similar to events other Marin schools are doing to cope with the cancellation of schools. 

ASB recognized the effect quarantine has on students, especially since they’re stuck at home without much human interaction.

“For us students it hits very hard as we are accustomed to being able to see each other nearly every day. The spirit week is to help foster that sense of belonging again and help people entertain themselves,” said Tom Skyvara, member of ASB’s publicity crew. 

Through Zoom, ASB worked together to create a spirit week in order to bring students together. The theme for the whole week is “Quarantine Routine,” with the main focus being to get students involved with the school. 

“The intention is that each participant takes a picture of themselves doing the day’s activity, puts it on their [Instagram] story and tags @drakepirates,” said ASB Publicity Crew Captain, Lea Baskin Monk. 

The themes are integrated with different activities to do during quarantine such as “Workout Wednesday”. 

“…so many people are wanting to get out of the house, go on hikes to get some exercise, etc. So, on Wednesday we hope that everyone can connect through those mutual desires and, of course, share a picture of themselves participating in their Instagram story,” said ASB’s Events Captain, Téa Kaiser.

The main point of the spirit week is to motivate students to still be involved with the student body without actual face to face interaction. “Facetime Friday” also helps to maintain connections between students.

“We want stuff that’s creative, gets people moving, and also enables them to interact with people they haven’t been able to with for a while,” Skyvara said. 

Additionally, to ensure student participation, ASB drifted away from the typical spirit week themes. 

“We wanted this to be something that students would actually participate in, so we omitted any dress up days and took inspiration from how we saw our students were coping with this crisis,” Baskin Monk said. 

The themes are more focused on activities and less on dress up days. As this is a time with a limited amount of things to do, this helps give students ideas of activities to partake in.

Although this pandemic has a large effect on our students, it’s important to remain in touch with our school. This virtual spirit week helps us do so while simultaneously encouraging positivity during this dark time.