Every year when spirit week rolls around, you’ll hear the whispers. The snide comments and playful jabs are everywhere, “The Class of 2018 has no school spirit!” Coming into this year’s spirit week, many students discounted the seniors, saying things such as, “They’re going to be the first senior class that doesn’t win triple crown…”.

Although the Class of ‘18 has had its moments of indifference, there has always been a large amount of spirit within the class, and the doubts were unfounded. Especially this year, the Class of ‘18 showed more spirit than ever, and its true nature was recognized with their well-deserved triple crown victory at the end of spirit week.

Much of the sentiment towards of the Class of ‘18 over the years was wrong, as there have always been a consistent group of spirited students. The “unspirited” stigma developed over two years ago, when the Class of ‘18 was still in the freshman/sophomore years. This stigma has since stayed with the Class of ‘18, but it is an unfair label. Almost every class experiences low participation during the first two years, as many students are still getting adjusted with high school and are unsure about participating. As these students gain more experience at Irvington, they make new friends and find their place, leading many of them to be more involved in clubs, sports, and school spirit. Go to any school event and one will almost always see the upperclassmen well represented, while there are still some, albeit less, underclassmen.

This is reflected in Irvington tradition, as the end-of-spirit-week standings usually has the senior and junior classes winning the top two spots, while sophomores and freshmen fight for the lower spots. The Class of ‘18’s unspirited appearance was simply due to inexperience and the fact that the upperclassmen were more spirited at the time.

As the Class of ‘18 has matured into upperclassmen, the level of school spirit and participation has improved every year, contrary to popular belief. In last year’s spirit week, the Class of ‘18 won 2nd place in the spirit category as juniors, having an impressive amount of students dress up every day and showing up to events throughout the week. This year, it was obvious that the Class of ‘18 had the most participation, especially on Thursday’s class dance competition as the bleachers were filled with black shirts from the senior class.

The effort and involvement at bench-building has also drastically increased over the years. Although the Class of ‘18 won 3rd place in the bench-building category last year, they were able to bounce back dramatically, winning first place with a truly show-stopping bench-building stage on Thursday morning. The 22-foot-tall Empire State Building loomed over the rest of the bench decorations, setting an unprecedented and impressive stage. A working fountain with real water was also present, providing a unique piece that no other class had. All of these grand decorations would not have been possible without consistent participation from the seniors in the months before spirit week, and the Class of ‘18 did not disappoint. Ultimately, the Class of ‘18 was able to show its spirit through class-wide participation, proving the doubters wrong with large numbers of students dressing up and a dazzling bench-building stage.

As the class of ‘18 finishes up their final year of high school, memories are made and final goodbyes are in store. Although school spirit is not a main priority for many students, there is a certain sense of satisfaction in being united with your fellow classmates. In terms of school spirit, the Class of 2018 has come a long way from their underclassmen days, finally getting the credit they deserve after being overlooked for years.