St. Thomas Aquinas, or Hogwarts; Homeroom Spirit Points!
Written by Abigaile McCulloch, Student Journalist
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School in Tottenham (STS) has become an environment for friendly competition! At the beginning of this school year, Principal Mrs. Varano and Vice Principal Mr. Porco announced that spirit points would be awarded to the homeroom who shows the most spirit on spirit days, brings in the most food for a drive or participates the most in school events. The idea of a point system makes STS students determined to win first place, and has created friendly competition between classes. The winning class has been promised a trip to Canada’s Wonderland at the end of the year.
The benefits from the STS point system are evident - it is quickly creating amplified school spirit and a non-judgemental environment. The point of creating a competition makes the students want to win, therefore they go all out and try their best to attain as many points as possible. When points are being awarded students sit on the edge of their seats and everyone can hear the winners cheering from their classrooms.
It is amazing to see everyone get so involved in school events! Vice Principal Mr. Porco says, “Student well-being is at the forefront of everything at STS. If students feel comfortable, included and happy to be at school, we hope this will help in terms of student achievement.” Keeping the school as positive as possible has always been very important to Principal Mrs. Varano as well. She states that, “The goal of the spirit points is to increase positivity and provide a platform for students to express themselves in a positive way. We want to give our students more opportunities to be fully engaged in the school community.”
School spirit at STS is on the rise and students have noticed the change. A Grade 12 student, Veronica C., states, “I feel like this is the most I have ever seen students participate at school and have fun with their peers.”
Spirit points aren’t just for a prize, they have also created an outlet for students to be themselves. Everyone knows their friends will dress up and that creates a non-judgemental climate where students can feel free to celebrate their school spirit in crazy ways. They are more excited to win the homeroom points with their class, than worry about being the only one who dresses up.