Dear Seniors,

As I write this commentary, Spirit Week is drawing to a close.  And what do we have to show for it?  I hope that your greatest impact is not a campus littered with colored paper and a senior class that may actually believe that ditching school was a solid display of school pride.  Allow me to clarify my thesis:  Class competition is a fun and healthy enterprise, but school spirit must be much more than a rainbow of trash and poor choices.  True school spirit, even amidst class competition, should bring the entire campus together.  Are we not all Stallions?

Please do not miss the point.  Class competition should bring out your best.  A fact all too often missed these days is that you win, not by tearing down your opponents, but by outperforming them.  I am talking about commitment to San Juan Hills, not to your own ego.  So will your legacy to this campus be “We highlighted the weakness of others!” or “We ourselves were strong!”  You may not be sure of the difference, but (make no mistake) everyone else is.

So here is my vision for future Spirit Weeks.  (Juniors, take note!)  The seniors coordinate great acts of service for the campus and especially for the underclassmen.  The seniors show the juniors what solid campus leadership looks like.  Be those leaders whose first concern is to represent the school, the entire school, with pride and integrity.  Show the rest of the classes and your teachers what four years of being here has done for you.  Can you imagine the power of such acts?  Can you imagine the legacy that the class of 201_ could leave for the class of 2020?  I can.  I do imagine it.  And it makes this week’s events seem pretty disappointing.