Homecoming week is always an exciting time for the city of Owatonna. The Homecoming festivities span from Powder Puff football on Wednesday night, to the parade, to the football game on Friday night and the formal dance on Saturday night. With all of these different activities going on, the students of Owatonna High School still have their entertaining dress up days to look forward to. This year’s dress up theme was based on a road trip across America. Monday was pajama day. Tuesday was formal day. Wednesday was western day. Thursday was America day, and Friday was blue and silver day.

The dress up days create a lively atmosphere for the students to partake in and allow students to express their school spirit. Contrary to previous years, this year presents a new challenge to the OHS faculty members. A new policy was enforced this fall, prohibiting teachers from wearing anything that looked “unprofessional.” OHS Principal, Mr. Mark Randall, explained the new limitations stating, “”It wasn’t really a new decision, but rather just enforcing the dress guidelines across the district. Some of these guidelines may prohibit staff to participate in dress up days.

So technically, staff are in fact allowed to participate in these spirit days, but to do so they need to stay within the dress guidelines. Junior Mitchell Mayer weighed in on the topic, “Having the staff dress up last year provided an uplifting sense of school spirit. I don’t feel that it has negatively impacted the school, this year, however, the lack of dressing up hasn’t helped. Finding appropriate pajamas, western gear, or USA apparel while still looking “professional” is proving to be an impossible task, and most teachers have just abandoned the idea of dressing up for Homecoming altogether.

Senior Elena Bueltel feels sorry for staff who can’t take part in these fun events, saying, “I feel bad that they can’t participate in the festivities. I think they should follow the dress code any other time of the year except spirit days.” Although this new policy seems a bit extreme, Mr. Randall puts things into perspective, saying, “For me, spirit is about students. We are here to ensure that students learn. The spirit days have always been intended for the students’ purpose. There are lots of other ways for staff to promote school spirit, other than dressing up.”

Homecoming is no doubt a fun and exciting time for everyone involved, but the students have to realize that the first priority of the OHS staff is to provide a first rate education. If that means they will have to sacrifice some fun opportunities to dress up, it should be known they will do so. As proud members of OHS and the Owatonna community, they will find other ways to express their school spirit.

Owatonna High School, feel free to weigh in on this issue.

Should OHS teachers be allowed to participate in spirit week dress up activities?

• YES
• NO

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