When we think about representing our school, at games or even at rallies, the first thing that comes to mind is spirit.  As a senior, I don’t really like what I have seen in terms of school spirit.

Yes, we won the Spirit Award at the Jamboree, and yes, it was a great success because we took home the trophy and that was the end of it, literally. It seems that we hit a premature peak in our school spirit after that. From then on, unfortunately it has all been downhill from there. It wouldn’t be as bad, if this only concerned sports, but the problem is, this downgrade of spirit seems to have spread way beyond sport participation.

Take for example our first home football game against Live Oak, a team not only outside our district, but outside our city. Yes, our school song was sung and the Trojan yell was chanted, to cheer on our players, but the feeling that was felt at the Jamboree, was absent from this game.

Now, most people would argue the fact that this team was from outside the area and perhaps if our school was facing an opponent from Salinas it would be better, right?

No, not really. At the Alvarez game, our supposed rivals, we were quiet, our school song wasn’t sung, the Trojan yell wasn’t chanted, and our regular cheers were nowhere to be heard.

What about rallies, if we are so spirited at home games, then shouldn’t we be twice as much at school rallies? Unfortunately, we aren’t. There is a relative pattern that seniors have a crowd representing, and so do the freshmen, but there is always a gap in those two middle classes.

The fact that there are gaping holes in between the classes isn’t the biggest problem though. The biggest concern in my opinion is, why is it that there is a selective process in which activities get attention if any at all is given? Last Friday, there was an Ally Rally in which people came to show support for the LGBTQ community, specifically those at Alisal. This was by far the least attended rally. It was heartbreaking to see this, a community who struggles so much for acceptance already to be so underappreciated here at home. It might not have been a pregame rally, but it was still a chance to show our support for our fellow Trojans.

What is worse, is that we may have become all talk and no action, at least on the senior side of this. Saturday, October 1, was supposed to be our senior sunset. For three meetings this was discussed and everybody was hyped and ready for it, yet only 30-35 people actually showed up.  

If we are a school that claims so much school spirit, we should show it everywhere not just in the “popular” activities (football and boys’ basketball). To be the best as we claim to be we need to demonstrate on all aspects, by showing up to all rallies, supporting all sports, and sporting that Trojan gear regularly. While asking people to wear Trojan gear on the daily would be ridiculous, but it’s not ridiculous to wear our school colors outside of the predetermined “Trojan Pride Days”.

So what can we do? How can we fix this? It might be simple to say, but just attend and support each other at all functions – sports, dances, rallies, performances – it is the little things that can add up to some big changes.

The one group, other than the students, who can help the most is ASB. When they put their mind to one priority, they get things done. Why not  focus that attention into different activities, some that are not as recognized as football or rallies. This way we can show our Trojan spirit all around and be known as loud and proud in every single aspect of Alisal.

By Herklin Amaro