ASB launched Thanksgiving Spirit Week with dress-up days and fall festival activities from Nov. 16-20.

For “Thankful Monday,” students posted what they were thankful for on their Instagram stories, and on “Flannel Tuesday,” both students at school and home wore flannel. Students dressed up as family members with their friend groups for “Family Photo Wednesday,” while “Turkey Trot Thursday” had students showing up as a trotter in athletic gear or as a turkey. Finally, for “Fall Asleep Friday,” students wore their pajamas to school. 

“[My favorite spirit day] was pajama day because it was really comfortable and fun to see everyone comfortable at school,” junior Megan Suhr said. “I really like being able to have specific dress up days because it’s interesting to see students’ individual styles and different interpretations.”

Aside from dress-up days, the annual canned food drive also occurred from Nov. 16-24, but for the first time, it took place virtually as students donated online through the Orange County Second Harvest Food Bank website.

While the hybrid schedule initially posed challenges to holding a spirit week, ASB was able to plan accordingly after multiple sessions of brainstorming. 

“For this Thanksgiving Spirit Week, we decided to treat it how we normally would where we would have one spirit day every single day, and then those who are staying at home are encouraged to dress up,” senior and spirit and rally commissioner Kai Wong said. “And that’s when we brought in the idea of sending in photos of yourself, so you can show that you participated even if you’re at home, so it can still count towards class points.”

The implementation of the class point system this year also encouraged more participation among students. 

“I think what I really liked about the change is that we get class points for dressing up, which is very fun because you get everyone to participate, and you see who has the highest points, and it’s like a competition,” junior Britney Vuong said.

During difficult times, it is especially important to have school spirit because it shows that despite the situation, students and staff are still working to preserve Portola culture and its traditions.

“It just shows that students and faculty just want to have some sense of normalcy, especially this year,” Wong said. “I think these spirit weeks are what distracts students from [thinking about] COVID-19, to shifting our negative train of thought to a positive train of thought.”