KHS, get it together. We’re the Pioneers, so start acting like it. Football season is in full effect, yet we could not be more disappointed. Not in the football players, who no doubt “tried their best”. The true problem lies within the student section. You were quiet and completely civilized. We’re embarrassed to call ourselves Pioneers.
It feels like just yesterday that we were the most rambunctious in all of St. Louis, the rowdiest student section in the Midwest, as Pep Nation proclaims. Now, 53% (36/66) of TKC staffers believe we lack school spirit. Can we ask what happened over the few short months of summer? Did you all lose your KHS ID badges? Because with the way some of you were standing in the crowd, we’d guess you weren’t even students.
The next time we approach Lyons Memorial Field, we expect more. We want a fun theme, one that requires a pitstop at Party City in which you spend thirty bucks on a bunch of useless accessories. We want to hear Pep Nation come up with new, creative cheers that can be heard from Essex. On top of that, we want more crowd participation. Sophomores, keep it up, you’re doing a great job standing silently. News flash: you’re not as cool as you think you are. If you’re not going to cheer, don’t bother coming at all. And freshmen, pick a lane. You can’t be quiet and annoying, so here’s a suggestion: try doing neither! Step it up and shout, shriek, squawk for all we care, as long as it’s loud.
Okay. To those who have never closely followed football games, it may seem like we’re asking for a lot. But we’re really not. Pep Nation, is it really that hard? We know you have plenty of restrictions, teacher approval and all that, but it’s not like we’re asking for inappropriate cheers. All we want is a little more variety. “Let’s get rowdy”? How ‘bout let’s get creative! On another note, can we start doing touchdown cheers when we get the actual touchdown, not 10 minutes after. Also, Pep Nation doesn’t have to be the only one creating cheers. We have to say that more so than other years, our cheerleaders are phenomenal. They’ve really stepped it up this year, catching their flyers and landing on their feet whilst tumbling-color us impressed. So why does no one participate in their cheers? On that note, we have another ask of Pep Nation and the student body. Can we show a little love for sports besides football?
Girl’s field hockey, girl’s volleyball, boy’s soccer, girl’s tennis, boy’s and girl’s cross country: all fall sports who have no student section. Why is that? Sure, football may bring in a profit, but if advertised properly any sport could be put in that position. Maybe it’s the mediocre amount of support Pep Nation offers to these sports, or maybe it’s the lack of school spirit at KHS. Now, we’re not looking for anyone to blame. We’re just looking for people to recruit, or rather inspire into attending these less popular sports games.
On the other hand, KHS student groups such as class committees and Pep Nation put a lot of effort into getting students involved, even if the student body doesn’t always cooperate. Hallway decorating days and school dances are all designed by class committees to encourage more school spirit throughout KHS. Despite what we said earlier, there is a good number of people who keep themselves in the loop of all school-related things. We want to marry those people.
This group includes those who show up to every pep rally, participate in every school spirit day during Spirit Week, and simply maintain Pioneer pride in general. We hear you at every football game, we see you putting your all into hallway decorations and we love you. We need more of that energy at KHS.
Now, we’ve talked about both sides of Kirkwood, those who lack school spirit and those who ooze it, and to be honest there’s no true majority here. Even TKC’s vote almost came to a tie. While some of the school does an amazing job of exhibiting school spirit there’s also a great portion of so-called “Pioneers” who make no effort towards showing even a little enthusiasm. So the only thing we can truly say is for those who’ve got it, keep it up. And for those who struggle to find their Pioneer pride, try attending a couple class committee meetings or even a pep rally or two, we’re sure you’ll find some level of gusto regarding KHS.
