School spirit is an integral part of the high school experience and can take many forms. It can be as simple as cheering at a pep rally or showing up to a school event such as a sports game or performance. However, it seems that at many of these events, Portola lacks school spirit.

The problem with trying to raise school spirit is that it is highly dependant on individual actions and support from everyone. It is the responsibility of every student at Portola to gain more school spirit.

“I think, from an ASB standpoint, that we need to reach out to more people,” junior Jason Chen said. “We seem to have ideas in ASB, but it never translates to school spirit. That is something we need to work on, just spreading out and actually getting more people involved and excited.”

Many students believe that it is solely ASB’s job to inspire school spirit. However, it is also the responsibility of the student body. As ASB continues to try and reach out to more students, the students must also help ASB.

An example of this is at sports games. ASB leads cheers at games, but if the student body does not participate in the cheers, then ASB is simply not loud enough to have a large impact. Only through the risks of a few individuals who inspire school spirit in others will it spread.

Colleges tend to have much better school spirit than high schools, and Syracuse University has the best school spirit three years running according to the Princeton Review.

“SU also ranked No. 1 for school spirit in 2016 and 2017 and No. 7 in 2015. Syracuse football attendance has struggled in recent years but was up slightly last year as excitement continues with head coach Dino Babers. Syracuse basketball is still the big draw, as SU hoops has set college attendance records at the Carrier Dome more than a dozen times,” according to syracuse.com.

Great sports teams can draw a large crowd, and a large crowd can lead to a spike in spirit. While our sports teams continue to improve, individuals can also raise school spirit through their actions. Simply showing up to a game dressed in school colors or participating enthusiastically in school cheers adds to the spirit. Students can even motivate their friends to attend a sports game, or even start a cheer in the stadium. 

While not everyone must be the more spirited student, they should at least try to be spirited, and if everyone honestly tries to do this, Portola will see a significant increase in school spirit.

“I think it’s just about people not being afraid of standing out against the crowd,” junior Stephanie Tang said. “Right now, we have a lot of people who don’t yell or don’t stand up and cheer because they see that no one else around them is, but if we have a few individuals who are willing to take that risk and start the school spirit, it’s like a wildfire. It will catch on.”