by Alyson Haley
At the close of the 2014-2015 school year social studies teacher Pamela Porter announced her resignation as the advisor of Spirit Committee.
Coming into this school year, the spot had yet to be filled. Stepping up to the plate is math teacher Liz Nockles and special education teacher Carissa Barker. Neither teacher has been involved with the committee before.
Although neither teacher planned on taking over the group, students like junior Sabrina Barros, a returning member, coaxed them into it.
“I tried figuring out who students’ favorites are and asking them, but so many teachers already do so many things after school, and have their own personal lives to deal with. It is just too much for some,” said Barros.
Working alongside Barros in the hunt for an advisor was first year member Felisha Cordeiro. The thought of not having pep rallies her senior year was enough to drive her into finding an advisor and joining the committee.
“It’s my last year. I want it to be fun and not lousy like last year,” said Cordeiro. “I went to everyone that I could think of to try and get them to step up. We need a more spirited school, and pep rallies bring out the spirit in everyone.”
But they are just a small minority of students. The number of students showing up to help is dwindling. Students have started to care less and less about showing Hudson pride at rallies and other school events. No more than six students attended the last meeting before the Homecoming rally, a large decrease from the range of 18-50 students helping in years past.
“With spirit it tends to be that people don’t like it. People always complain about the rallies,” said Barros. “Spirit has become people’s least priority.”
The final push was the thought of having no pep rallies and the decrease in school spirit. Porter, who knows first hand how these rallies affect students, knew that even if the committee was in trouble, she could not turn back.
“I was upset and felt bad for the kids who were stressing about it, but I had already started UNICEF. I would not have been able to do both to my full potential,” says Porter. “Spirit is a hard thing to manifest. I think that students want to have fun at school, but they are not showing up and planning these events. It cannot be about the advisors. It has to be the students and what they ultimately want. You can really make something great of it and feel proud of the kids, but it is a lot of work behind the scenes.”
This year’s pep rallies may not be like they used to, but both Nockles and Barker wanted to keep spirit at Hudson High alive. Both Barker, a Hudson High grad, and Nockles have experienced enough HHS pep rallies to know what works with students and gets them excited.
“We don’t really know how this rally and others will turn out,” said Nockles. “We don’t know how Ms. Porter ran the committee.”
With the rise of the Red Sea, many hope that the two groups can join forces to bring spirit back to Hudson High.
“They have been supporters of us, and on busy days sometimes you can find a lot of them here,” said Barros. “The Red Sea may not be as demanding as Spirit Committee, but they are really helping us get back on our feet.”
