Competing for the Prize

KHS Seniors recently captured school spirit by winning the Eagle Fever contest. Eagle Fever was a great way of getting students to go to Football games and be involved during homecoming week. At the end of Eagle Fever, the winning class received an incentive that was not the typical pizza party. The seniors were released from class at the beginning of second lunch for a pizza party, which was promised after being the loudest at a pep rally, and then went to the Kingman Theatre for the rest of the afternoon to watch Quantum Solace. None of this would have been possible without the support of our administration. Changes and incentives like this in our school help to bring out school pride and involvement in everyone. But how often do we have contests with large incentives in the end?

Every year we seem to have only 3 school wide competitions; the food drive and 2 spirit weeks. The incentives for these competitions are always the same thing. While it is nice to have free homework passes and get out of lunch cards, a little creativity when it comes to rewarding the student body would be desirable. Also, other competitions throughout the year would help to keep students active and involved in the community and school. The Christmas season is a time when the food bank needs food the most, but don’t people need food in April too?

Offering prizes like an afternoon at the movies required our administration to step outside of their comfort zone, yet things like that make contests and activities successful. How much participation would there have been for Eagle Fever if the incentive at the end was 3 homework passes? It probably wouldn’t have had the same outcome. Some would say that things like school spirit and involvement in charitable events shouldn’t hinge upon large rewards. However, if we don’t offer something that’s more than just the typical pizza party, interest in whatever the event may by probably won’t be as strong.

With the success of Eagle Fever, hopefully our administration will be influenced to take on other contests that are out of our normal routine. The fact that the idea for Eagle Fever came from a student shows that students are capable of having a voice in the school and competitions. Also, the incentives that are rewarded at the end are there to help drive students to be active. Therefore, our administration shouldn’t be afraid to make them a little extravagant. No matter what the incentive is, it will definently have an effect on student involvement.