School spirit seized the halls of MGCI from 25 February to 1 March 2019 during the school’s third Spirit Week of the year. Spirit Week was composed of themed days throughout the week with lunchtime games in the cafeteria, and it ended off with a Pep Rally on Friday, 1 March. House points and prizes were awarded to students who dressed up for the themed days and participated in the activities held at lunch and during the Pep Rally.
Spirit Week kicked off with Backwards Day on Monday, 25 February. Students were encouraged to wear backpacks, jackets, and hats backwards. A game of Kahoot! was held in the cafeteria at lunch, the theme of which was Garneau Culture. It included questions about the history of MGCI, the teachers that work there, and how it is different from other schools. The winner was awarded a Tim Hortons gift card.
Tuesday was MGCI Gear Day. Students sported Garneau apparel from this year and from previous years to demonstrate school spirit. Senior crew neck sales, which were also happening during the week at lunchtimes, were particularly successful on this day as seniors wished to show their spirit and follow the theme of the day. Musical chairs, a popular activity during past Spirit Weeks, was held during lunch.
MGCI Gear Day was followed by Crazy Hair Wednesday, where students were encouraged to skip brushing their hair that morning. Some came wearing unusual updos, and even wigs. At lunch, a game of charades was held in the cafeteria. Teachers representing each house acted out a scenario and student members of the house were required to guess what the action was. Many house points were awarded to the winners.
Students guessed what teachers were acting out in a game of Charades
The next day was Celebrity Thursday. Students participated by dressing up as their favourite pop star or film actor. A spelling bee Kahoot! was played at lunch with more Tim Hortons gift cards were given as prizes. The week ended off with House Colour Day on Friday, 1 March. Students came dressed in yellow, red, blue, and green to represent their houses and earn house points. No event was run during lunch due to preparations for the Pep Rally.
As per Garneau Spirit Week tradition, a Pep Rally was held on the last day of the week. A period was designated for each grade, starting with Grade 12 students during second period and ending with Grade 9 students during fifth period. It included enjoyable, interactive activities which required students to unite as houses and compete to win house points and prizes. Some of the activities were musical chairs, which rewarded the winner with a chocolate bar, tug of war, which earned the winning team fifty house points, and a basketball shoot-out, which left the winner with a Tim Hortons gift card.
Grade 10 student Alviya Siddiqui, who was present for many of the activities that took place during Spirit Week including the Pep Rally, said, “I really liked how the themes were very different this time from Spirit Weeks that happened before. It was a lot of fun seeing the activities happening at lunch.”
Spirit Convenor Nithya Uthayakumar, who organized Spirit Week, shared her thoughts on the success of the week. “During the first Spirit Weeks, there were problems with microphones and music and we wanted to reduce setup time so that the transition between activities was more smooth. This time, we had none of those problems.”
Overall, Spirit Week ran smoothly and without any issues. As participants united throughout the school to earn prizes and house points, MGCI’s third Spirit Week of the year was definitely successful in bringing students together and raising school spirit.
