School spirit is defined in Wikipedia.com as, “The sense of identity and community shared by members of an educational institution.” As a general definition, this fits the idea of school spirit, but from school to school this definition can be changed and defined by the culture of each school. At Owatonna High School, school spirit is not simply just a thing that is in the school- it is, for most students, a substantial part of their life.
When it comes to sports in Owatonna the parents and community as a whole have traditionally filled the stands as well as the students filled the stands.
People forgot how to use school spirit or even how to show it in any way after COVID restrictions were lifted. The recovering years from COVID were really hard on the students and people due to them not wanting to come to games, because of the fear Covid had brought. Activities Director Marc Achtekirch said, “When they started easing the restrictions of COVID and we were allowed to bring more students into our sections, ours was full. This year, a new school gave a new sense of pride for our school.”
On Friday, September 1, 2023, the Huskies’ home field opener took place marking the first official football game ever played in the new high school. The stadium holds approximately 3,500 people. People had their doubts about the big stadium, with the idea being there was no chance they could fill it so it would make it seem like there was nobody at the game. However, the home opener brought over 5,000 people to the game. The stadium was packed, seat to seat. The best thing about this was this was just foreshadowing what school spirit at extracurriculars would look like for the rest of the year. The support has carried through the winter sports as well.
People attending events is not the only thing that matters when showing school spirit. Things like Homecoming, Prom, Snow week, and other big events are also big factors. This year at the Huskies’ Homecoming parade, the entire parade route was packed. The students filled the new massive gym for the homecoming dance. Roughly 800 students attended the homecoming dance which is the highest attendance OHS has had in years.
The 2023-24 school year has brought much excitement and school spirit to the students of OHS.
Originally published in the January Print Edition
