<p>Read some interesting things in different posts lately - like the all night Prom after parties.</p>
<p>Just wondering what level of pride parents - and their children have - in their local high school? And more importantly what things has the school has done to develop that pride?</p>
<p>Our local high school certainly seems to be not doing something right - it seems more of a diploma mill where kids leave with little emotional tie to the school.</p>
<p>And I am thinking about attempting to change all that - but I need help in identifying those things that foster the pride.</p>
<p>I think there is quite a bid of pride, both from students and from the community, in our local high school. The local high school is huge (3,600++) relative to the size of the community (maybe 32,000 or so??). It is the only high school within the community. I think this helps with having school pride. I must say, however, that a LOT of the pride comes from success in athletics. There is far too much emphasis on this, IMO. </p>
<p>I think knowing the size of the high school, whether or not it is the only one in your area, and the nature of your community might help in answering this question.</p>
<p>My senior will enjoy such an over-the-top prom & after-party at his HS… but I just received word that tickets for prom cost $180/couple. Ack.</p>
<p>I would say athletics, academics and community service are three things, in which, the school community (population 1200, all-male, Catholic) takes great pride. Students commute from approximately 80 communities in two states to attend. The school has a very capable and generous parent volunteer and alumni base.</p>
<p>I really didn’t give a **** about my HS. All of the pride was based around athletics and now because we can’t pass a levy they are cutting academic programs before sports. Its a large HS 2700+ by the way.</p>
<p>My school pride goes like this</p>
<p>University of Michigan
Whitney Elementary
Albion Middle School/Strongsville High School</p>
<p>I think many people remember their elementary schools more fondly than their high schools. Although ours is an academically fine hs that prepared my kids well for college, two of my ds were very unhappy there, and even the most socially successful (for lack of a better word) was lukewarm about it and chose to miss graduation in order to get to her dance recital on time instead. Pride didn’t enter into their feelings at all - they had to go to high school to get out of it, so they endured. </p>
<p>Our hs is high-achieving hereabouts (mean SAT score 1700-plus, 80-plus percent of graduating class going on to 4-year schools). It has an outstanding track program, music program, science ECs, art program, and more. Many truly gifted teachers are on the faculty. It’s also had its share of problems, from too much grinding on the dance floor :rolleyes: to a major community disagreement about artificial turf. And worse.</p>
<p>I think my kids feel pride in their colleges because they found them, applied and were accepted, and then enjoyed a good fit. Their hs was just the place they wound up going by virtue of where their parents lived.</p>
<p>KingJulian - I think one factor contributing to school pride is the students participation level in various activities. Think beyond the traditional varsity athletics, band, theater and come up with creative activities that would draw in more students. Possibly intramural sports, coed volleyball club, drawing/painting/photog club, a club where kids hang out and listen/discuss their favorite music, etc. If you can organize these for immediately after school you would run up against less obstacles with the school.</p>
<p>DW recalls her HS fondly … a one-building K-12 out on the plains. I don’t know if it was because she knew every last person in the building personally, or because education was the ONLY way out of that tiny community … and she needed OUT badly.</p>
<p>DDs were much more lukewarm about their HS’s. They attached themselves to their colleges.</p>
<p>As for myself … well, as my mother used to say “If you can’t find something nice to say, better to say nothing at all.” I do recall my Elementary School and colleges fondly.</p>
<p>I still have a great deal of pride around my high school, but that is because I felt my class accomplished so much. There was nothing else to do but school activities, so we all participated in everything from jocks in school play ensemble casts to volunteer mat maids at wrestling meets.
DS is at a school with a very strong tradition in football and the entire town comes out to the games regardless of the teams chances. The student section is full of purple-painted screaming kids, rain or shine, win or lose. It is not so intense at other events, but there is a definite sense of supporting each other. </p>
<p>I think it has a great deal to do with the fact that we are in a town that doesn’t have a lot of outsiders moving in (with us being the exception). These kids grew up together, played together in preschool, etc. and for most here are attending the same school as their parents and grandparents. They all have stories to tell that create a sense of tradition and pride.</p>
<p>I don’t know that high school pride is particularly important.</p>
<p>My own high school so apathetic that in my senior year, we voted the student government out of existence because we thought it was too much of a bother to hold meetings. And the majority of academically oriented students arranged to graduate a year early just to get out of the place.</p>
<p>But we got a decent education there – better than I realized until I got to college and found out that a lot of people were less prepared than I was.</p>
<p>My D1 went to my HS and neither of us particularly hold fond memories overall. Moments of good perhaps but both of us were ready to leave it behind. It’s a great school but we’re just not hold-on types. I will say I enjoyed coming back to the school through my D1 and that made my feelings a bit fonder but by the time D1 was through she was THROUGH, LOL. Perhaps time will change that but like others have said, she immediately became emeshed in her college and loves it because she chose it and it chose her and it reflects her hard work and efforts.</p>
<p>Here in St. Louis the first thing you’re asked when meeting someone is 'Where did you go to school?" and we mean high school not college. People make fun of this all the time but in this area it seems there is alot of high school pride regardless of where you attend.</p>
<p>Almost none. I never go to sports games, I don’t buy school shirts (false, actually; I am required to have the Debate shirts, which were great freshman year and terrible each subsequent year), I don’t paint myself or cheer or decry the “rival” schools. I skip out on “required” pep rallies constantly, as I prefer to retain my hearing, and when I must go, I generally read or do homework. To me, the idea of spending more money on football than textbooks is ridiculous. Other schools shouldn’t be hated rivals; they’re all institutions with the goal of education, and attendance is based simply on zoning.</p>
<p>I get to pick my college, to some degree, so I imagine I will have some school pride there. However, my high school commands little for me. After two years, I largely left (except for debate and another semester of Latin) to take up dual enrollment at the local state college. I probably have more school pride for that; I am excited to graduate the college with an AA, but my high school graduation evokes little excitement. I am loyal much more to the friends I have met there than to the school itself.</p>
<p>My kids enjoyed h.s. life and had pride (I think) in their school while there. Both played football as did their good friends so that had a lot to do with it. There is one other h.s. in our town. The rivalry was pretty fierce which also created a lot of school pride in sports.</p>
<p>After graduation, h.s. was completely forgotten…no going back to homecoming,no visiting former teachers,nothing.
Both have continued to stay in touch with old h.s. friends and always see them when in town for a visit.</p>
<p>My early 1970s HS class had 11th(?) and 16th HS reunions because the powers that be didn’t get around to them (our 25th was on time, HS class of 270 had “I Get By with A Little Help From My Friends” as the class song). At the time of HS there was pride, although it was a good HS the ones on the other side of the area were better. I moved from the area and am mainly out of touch.</p>
<p>Son had plenty of HS involvement and school pride. Wore his HS labelled stuff in college freshman year, then has phased into college logo gear. Will be interesting to see if he attends any 5th year HS reunion.</p>
<p>His HS was composed of many socioeconomic levels. Junior prom in the gym with a post prom at the feeder middle school- son went stag with friends who did/didn’t have dates, dinner at a local restaurant. Intersting to see HS kids dolled up for prom at local inexpensive resaurants/buffets every April. Son wore a shirt and tie, good pants (versus jeans/cargoes)- no jacket/suit, much less tux. </p>
<p>Senior graduation had a party after the weekday event (4 district graduations- no one wants to give up weekends, and suburbs used those dates allowing extended families to attend all).</p>
<p>Son acquired many CC/track T-shirts and other logo sweatshirts/jackets which he wore often. The forensics T-shirt from freshman year was never worn. Math- yes. His senior class T-shirt had alll 500 plus grads names on it- took both front and back. I guess there must have been school pride. There is an annual after school homecoming parade the mile of a neighborhood street between the middle and HS followed by activites that seemed well attended by students the day before that football game.</p>
<p>Son was very active in sports, music and academic ECs. All that did well regionally- some went to state level while he was there- reasons to be proud of his school. But he is introverted and not the rah-rah sort. I think college has taught him where his HS fits in the scheme of things so he won’t praise it unduly.</p>
<p>PS- as a parent I will defend my son’s HS as the best in our area- based on son’s experiences. We chose the best part of the area to live for his education.</p>
<p>I think theres more high school pride in large cities since there are so many more schools and they all try to compete with each other in everything. First thing I ask people when I find out they grew up in Chicago is what high school they went to. I would imagine that in suburban and rural areas, nearly everyone goes to the town’s sole high school so there isn’t really much pride to have.</p>
<p>My S goes to a private HS that draws from over 45 communities (web site says 140, which I find hard to believe) Pride is huge at S’s school. Just look at alumni giving, the alumni association and how many alumni come back to support the school in so many ways. This sums up what my S’s school is all about “A school that creates men for others – young men who learn and understand that we all have a responsibility to and for each other, and that we are all a part of a larger world.” My H & I have gone from being mediocre contributors to volunteering and contributing money to this school we never imagined. The commitment of the teachers and the devotion they have to the kids is incredible. For the most part the staff, teachers and administration at S’s schools are “good” people, the kind of people you want your child to emulate. It is a Jesuit school, but we are not practicing Catholics. It’s not the religion, the school just teachers the boys to do the right thing, to be good citizens and to contribute to the community. The school is not only known for good athletics but does well in a number of non athletic co curriculars. Our local HS does not have the same sense of pride or loyalty that my S’s school does. We will continue to contribute money (and time) to S’s school for many years to come. We are drinking the Koolaid.</p>
<p>Yakyu Spirits- I have always thought that the opposite is true, coming from a rural environment and marrying a city boy. We always felt that because my rural upbringing was so closely tied to my high school that I had more pride than my H who did not need high school to have a full life as a teenager.</p>