Given a historic lack of participation in Menlo’s second-semester Spirit Week, student body representatives rebranded it as a “House Week.” This addition included Menlo’s house system, which had students compete and dress across all grades.
The house system was implemented at the beginning of this school year. Upper School Dean of Student Life and Culture Alexis Bustamante hopes that by combining house-related activities with Spirit Week, more students will participate.
In addition to daily spirit dress-up themes, like house colors and particular holidays that are assigned based on a student’s house, each day included a variety of lunch-time competitions. According to Student Body Vice President Melanie Goldberg, the Menlo student council was interested in creating competitions that were novel, creative and would also interest different kinds of students.
Menlo has historically had a second-semester Spirit Week in early February, which usually receives less student engagement than the Spirit Week in the fall. Goldberg cites cold winter weather for the drop in student participation. Senior and Student Life Coordinator Ellie Knoll believes that the lack of student engagement is most likely due to the stressful time of year for students. “It was just kind of a burden to dress up,” Knoll said.
House leaders were integral in selecting volunteers from their respective houses for each competition. Senior Warren house leader Tyler Fernandez was excited for the opportunity to go further with the house system, which he believes is integral in building community across different grades.
The Menlo student council used social media and Club Hub to advertise House Week events and send out emails. Bustamante was confident that students were excited about the chance to dress up and participate in competitions to win house points, which are awarded for winning challenges and being spirited. “From what I’ve heard, students are excited about the house competition because it’s so new,” Bustamante said.
