Tradition, Pride, and Excellence is one of the most used and longest running slogans here at Warsaw. As the years have passed, more and more traditions have been lost and some have been gained. When the pandemic happened, that is when the tradition started declining. There wasn’t as much excitement to come to school because it was not as enjoyable anymore. After the restrictions were lifted, things started to become more enjoyable and we were able to do some of the fun activities that were postponed due to COVID. We are back to a completely normal school year, being able to do everything we’ve done prior to COVID. However, the pride and participation in our traditions is slow to return.
In middle school, I remember so many people going to every event and participating in every spirit theme. Not many people participate anymore, but it’s important because it gives you a better high school experience. It allows you to be involved in your school and also helps you create friends by getting out there. It seems as if participation in these traditions was much more popular years ago when our parents were students. When you look in past yearbooks, the student section is filled and everyone is standing. Now, there are half that many students filling the stands and, most of the time, they aren’t even paying attention.
Warsaw staff has many alums who have graduated from here and have been through many stages here at Warsaw. They look back on their high school days when everyone was involved and many looked forward to pep assemblies, but now it seems as if many students dread them. For example, English teacher Amanda Adler (1997 graduate) remembers assemblies being something that everyone was excited about. She remembers doing a freshman and sophomore chant at assemblies while juniors and seniors chanted. This year’s chants were only between senior and junior and not everyone was doing the chant. It was mostly the seniors and maybe the first two rows from the juniors. Even when the cheerleaders were trying to get people to cheer, it was very disappointing to only see very few from each class participate.
With all that being said it’s important to keep traditions alive, so it can make a better high school experience. It is no one’s fault but our own if our high school experience is not everything we would hope it would be.