By HiLite Staff
<[email protected]>

As Homecoming week gets closer, school spirit will invade every corner in the building. Just one mention of trike races, convertibles or dress up days and instantly the mood brightens. In fact, it seems like CHS students are constantly encouraged to display excitement for their school and to have school pride, especially throughout Homecoming.

But recently that encouragement for school spirit has been tempered by attempts to quiet, or at least contain, that enthusiasm. This provides a confusing mixed message to students, and it’s a message that administrators need to clarify in the coming days if they expect students to behave appropriately.

With the largest Freshman Class ever (1,228 students at last count) and a school population of 4,426 (over 350 more students than last year), it’s understandable that the faculty is more protective than it has been in years past.

Plus, the number of student transfers from private schools has also increased to 206 this year, 40 more than last year. Besides enrolling more students, CHS has suffered a decrease in staff members compared to prior years, creating even more of an imbalance in the student to staff ratio.

But with this disproportion in the number of staff to students comes a need for both groups to understand where the boundaries are for having spirit and the consequences for crossing those boundaries.

There needs to be more communication between the CHS faculty and administration and the CHS student body over what kind of behavior is acceptable and what is considered too extreme.

For example, at the school convocation during the first two weeks of school, the seniors were reprimanded for their out-of-control behavior. If spirit grew out of hand during such a small, simple event as a school convocation, think of the possibilities of trouble during a larger, much more anticipated event like Homecoming.

To be fair, we applaud the administration and faculty for making some efforts to guide student behavior at school-wide events early on in the year, especially at the first few football games of the season. However, students need clearer instructions as to what is appropriate and what kind of behavior is considered over the top.

While some students may see this clarification to be childish, it is important for administrators to clearly define the line between what is appropriate and what is not.

With clearly defined guidelines, students, especially those who are new to the school, will understand the rules, and faculty and administrators will be able to enforce those rules consistently and fairly.

Everyone, both staff and students here at CHS, wants the same outcome for the remainder of the year — to show the rest of the state just how proud we are to be a part of this extraordinary school.

This includes demonstrating school spirit and excitement for all school functions but being mindful of the boundaries which will hopefully soon be made clear.

We want to remain respectful and represent the school in a positive manner but we also want to prove to others just how unique and impressive this school is.

Homecoming, especially, should not be spoiled because of unclear expectations or miscommunication between staff and students. It should be a time of celebration for all the school has to offer and all we, as students, are fortunate to be a part of.

And with reasonable expectations and continuing clear communication between the students and staff here at CHS, it will be.