Whether you’re a senior experiencing a fourth ELHS Spirit Week, or a freshman who doesn’t know quite what to expect, there’s no doubt that you’ve heard from older siblings or upperclassmen the lore of ELHS Spirit Weeks.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Spirit Week took a significant blow for two years. We’ve still stuck to the same PJ, Decades, Cause, Maroon and White, and Color Days, but there were some tweaks made in 2020 and 2021 such as a video recorded pep rally in spring 2021 and then an outdoor pep rally in fall 2021 instead of the traditional lively, full school pep rally in the North Gym. According to Class of 2025 advisors Christy Bryant (graduating class of 1997) and Joanna Hildebrand (graduating class of 1996), Spirit Week of 2022 was almost completely back to normal.
“Last year was the most normal one since pre-COVID. It felt like how it used to be,” Ms. Hildebrand said. “One thing that did change post-COVID was lunch. We used to have one lunch, so lunches were insane,” she continued.
Dress-up days have adapted to the times over the decades. There used to be more gender-specific events that would no longer be appropriate in current times.
“There was Mr. Irresistible Day and Mrs. Irresistible Day. On Mr. Irresistible Day, every girl would get a sticker and every guy had to get the girls to talk to them. Now, we look back on it and think, ‘That was awful!’,” Ms. Bryant said. Along with a change in dress up days, there was also hall decorating instead of commons decorating, and the pep rally has changed a bit too.
“I do remember East Lyme being more united. Our pep rally also showcased the sports teams a lot more,” Ms. Hildebrand said. The pep rally was changed to include everyone because not every student is involved in sports.
There have also been some more recent changes. You may have heard of color tagging, a color day tradition that has been banned where students from each grade try to tag students from other grades with paint handprints in their corresponding Spirit Week color. Color tagging was banned for multiple reasons: it was messy and not everyone wants you to put their hands on them. Additionally, Decades Day hasn’t always been around. Up until fall of 2016 there was a Holiday Day, which ended due to poor student behavior.
“Spirit Week has always been tweaked and adjusted over the years to reflect what’s going on in the world and be more appropriate… But there is absolutely no comparison. We do Spirit Week way better than any other schools in the area,” Ms. Hildebrand said.
