Winter Spirit Week, organized by Student Council at West Chicago Community High School, runs Monday, Dec. 12 to  Wednesday, Dec. 21, through final exams. 

Student Council put a lot of thought into this most recent spirit week before narrowing down the choices to eight at their meeting on Dec. 6. 

“The students were meeting in their classes, so like the freshman Student Council, the sophomore Student Council, they picked ideas and we all brought them together,” said Student Council adviser and Social Studies teacher Candace Fikis. 

On Monday, Dec. 12, students and staff started off the week with holiday PJ day.

On Tuesday, Dec. 13, “Winter Wonderland” was chosen. This theme was based around the colors blue and white. Student Council tried to incorporate more colors than the typical red and green seen around the Christmas holiday to be more inclusive (blue and white are also considered by many to be the colors associated with Hanukkah). 

However, the group returned to Christmas with Wednesday’s theme, “Santa vs. Elves”. This is the only day within the spirit week that actually incorporated associations of Santa. Students were encouraged to wear Santa or elf hats, or costumes.

Thursday’s theme was never before seen at WEGO, according to Fikis. This theme was chosen by freshmen, and was titled “Wrap vs. Rap”. The idea was the students either covered themselves in gift wrapping paper, or dressed up as an actual rapper. 

“I will be participating during this holiday spirit week. It’s something I haven’t seen done, especially with the ‘Wrap versus Rap’,” said junior Daniela Perez.

To end the first part of Winter Spirit Week on Friday, Student Council brought back another classic favorite: the ugly sweater. They held contest for the ugliest sweater in Commons at 7:30 a.m. The top three students and staff each received a $10 gift card. 

“I consider the spirit week good, I like it, I’ll probably do it Friday. It’s Ugly Sweater and put a mirror on it,” said freshman Nathan Knapik.

Enthusiasm for the spirit week was evident.

Something new Student Council is piloting this year is the idea of carrying the spirit into finals week. Today, as students take their first through third-hour finals, the theme will be plaid. On the second day of finals, Student Council is promoting “Candy Cane Day” which consists of students and staff wearing red and white. The last day of finals, which only consists of a tenth hour exam, does not necessarily have a plan: Student Council just asks students to wear clothes and show up. 

Winter Spirit Week is meant to be a fun activity that will destress students during finals. 

Spirit weeks have been around for decades, but Winter Spirit Week is relatively new (2020). The dress-up days are meant to bring the school community together. Spirit weeks used as a countdown before a certain break, such as winter or spring, or a holiday countdown for Halloween, also work to build excitement. They have become something that the students at WEGO enjoy. 

“It’s important because we do put in these spirit days, and we want people to participate. Even though some days you might not have something, it’s important to build that school community feeling that we lost for two years,” said senior and Student Council President Bella Wiehle.