As March rolls around, so does Archer’s annual Spirit Week celebration. From Monday March 8 to Friday March 12, student Council was tasked with modifying the week-long events to work as virtual celebrations including Monday’s (Reverse) Pajama Day to Friday’s spirit dances.

Eleventh grade student council representative Langdon Janos has helped plan six Spirit Weeks within her time as an Archer student. She spoke to the challenges of a virtual Spirit Week while also pointing out the parallels between other Archer events Student Council has put on thus far.

“So this year we had to pivot and try to come up with ways to still help people be spirited and form a grade bond while being at home. So, it was a bit of a challenge but we’ve also had a lot of experiences other events this year,” Janos said. “Looking at the Winter Wonderland and Halloween, we’ve gotten a little bit of experience under our belt.”

Student Body President Francessca Cappello also noted the changes that took place for 2021’s Spirit Week. As opposed to physically assembling the event, the student council focused on the ideas of each day and activity.

“This year’s event has just been a lot more idea-based,” Cappello said. “We spent a lot more time brainstorming what new things we can bring to the table so this year had [to include] more innovation.”

Junior Amalea Brown noticed the difference between the participation of past in-person events as opposed to this year’s online celebration. Specifically, regarding dressing according to each day’s theme and noted that there’s more of an “incentive” when Archer is together.

“On Zoom, it might be a lot easier to not notice if people are dressed up for Spirit Week whereas in person there’s just more energy being with people,” Brown said. “I feel like there’s more of an incentive to wear a spirit outfit if it’s in person.”

While, according to Janos, the participation this year has been “definitely less,” there is still enthusiasm among community members.

“I think it’s going well so far. The thing is, you can’t really force anyone to do something or like dress up or be part of an event,” Janos said. “But I think as long as we’re doing them and as long as we’re encouraging people to get involved those who want to will and that’s really all that we can do”

While this year’s events have differed from the past, Cappello emphasized the resiliency of the student body.

“I’m grateful for all the students for really sticking through this year and keeping the spirit alive,” Cappello said.”It is not going unnoticed.”