By Katina Handrinos, Banner Staff

Imagine you present yourself to an esteemed board of pensive judges, also known as Winsor’s Student Association of School Spirit (SASS) club. They unabashedly discuss your potential and pitfalls and don’t waste a second to scrutinize every aspect. At some points, it seems they love you, and then just when your name makes it to the list of hopeful finalists, it’s crossed off with the viciousness of a careless white-board marker—you’re sent to the bottom of the pyramid, waiting until next year for another chance. This tragic tearjerker is the story of a rejected Spirit Week theme. 

From the start of a school year, SASS is dedicated to the task of planning Spirit Week, and the formation of the elite lineup of themes is essential to this process. This year’s themes were Dynamic Duos, Idiom Day, Local Legends, and Red Day, but who are our fallen soldiers? 

‘Heroes versus Villains’ appeared to be a front-runner, but was eliminated in the end; the cause of death was “villains are more interesting than heroes anyway.” A SASS member was a proud supporter of ‘Football versus Fútbol’ and fought hard because of her personal stake in its approval, but this idea did not garner further recognition. In all honesty, this unfortunate result may have been because ‘Football versus Fútbol’ is the manifestation of a niche narrower than the Lower School Hallway at 2:45pm. The next contestant  was ‘Music Video,’ which was most likely shot down because Sabrina Carpenter’s “Taste” video might be a touch too violent for school sanction and Tate McRae’s “It’s ok I’m ok” video features nudity that is not fair play for Winsor purposes. ‘Celebrity Crush’ was yet another failed contender and happens to be a repeat offender, proposed year after year—simply put, the teachers probably don’t want to see that. 

This tale is not one of hope as many a theme is executed by SASS’ steely hand, and they may never see the light of Spirit Week. Luckily, each year, SASS members have a chance to offer up their outlandish theme ideas to a new set of SASS heads. If you think you have something special that could make Spirit Week 2025 unlike any other, hold tight and make sure to make it known next year! Until then, we hope your Spirit Week and UTL festivities were RED HOT! 

Spirit Week rejection letter: Katina Handrinos