Maybe it’s the upcoming presidential election. I, like so many others, have been absolutely fascinated by this political season. In my case, that’s not too much of a stretch, as I have always been a political junkie. But, these past few weeks have especially seemed to permeate a majority of my thoughts.

So, I’ll therefore blame this latest installment of “Jump Start Your School Spirit” on my obsession with all things politics.

One of the basic plays straight out of Campaigning 101 is to develop what’s called “a Message Calendar”. The leaders of a campaign will seek to match the daily, weekly, and monthly calendar with specifically timed messages on policy, philosophy, or even attacks against an opponent. A candidate will do everything in his or her power to stick to this well-thought out strategy, even though reporters and the opponent will try to take him or her off message. continue reading

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When I was a kid, I attended Houghton Elementary in Saline, Michigan. Houghton was one of two elementary schools in my town. The other one was called Jensen.

Our official school nickname was the Houghton Hawks. Jensen was The Jets. Nice alliteration, I know.

However, being kids, it didn’t take long for us to use alliteration in a more pejorative fashion. On our playground, the Jensen Jets quickly became referred to as Jensen Junkyard. Likewise, the fine students on the other side of town quickly responded by tagging us as the Houghton Hogs. And thus, a rivalry for the ages was born.

At first blush, this kind of name calling and institutional animosity would seem like a bad thing. After all, it takes a village… why can’t we all just get along… Give peace a chance… I want to buy the world a Coke… Pick your platitude. continue reading

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Common sense tells us that a school’s ability to raise funds can be impacted by the level of school spirit that exists within the community. The more intense the school spirit, the more likely there will be people ready to donate. Low school spirit signals apathy, and that can definitely sink fundraising efforts.

I am going to start a series of blog posts on how to increase school spirit in some potentially radical ways. When I say “radical” I certainly don’t mean anything illegal. Rather, I’m referring to a method that will challenge the status quo within your school. These suggestions may not be for everyone, but I’m fairly certain that each one of the upcoming topics will get folks talking. It will be up to you to decide if they will be talking in a favorable manner or not.

What’s Your Logo?
Today I want to talk about your school’s mascot and logo. Already, I can hear people screaming in protest. I, myself, attended Eastern Michigan University when we changed our school teams’ name from “The Hurons” to “The Eagles”. The school administration claimed our nickname was insensitive to Native Americans. I’m not about to wade into that argument, but I did witness first hand how polarizing such a move can be. In fact, I think you can still buy bootleg Hurons t-shirts, just off campus. So, I can definitely understand how this might be a “taboo” subject for some. continue reading

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