My question... I know im kinda late. Sorry.

mhm... gotta think of a good one.

Why do you think the decisions you make are important and will affect you for the rest of your life? What decisioins will? Or do you think all decisions will.?

school spirit

I could understand getting behind school spirit if we had a reason to. Getting hyped up for nothing isn't really helping anyone. It boosts moral as much as it lowers it by causing contention... I probably am missing a crucial detail to it, but for now, i am happily ignorant.

no school spirit

if you ask me, school spirit is essentialy a good thing. it is good to be involved with your class and have a little fun. however, i hate school spirit. people always complain that people dont have enough spirit. heres what i think: 1: people need to stop worrying about other people. if others dont feel like participating, then who cares. its thier life. 2) some people have more important things to deal with and dont have the time to prance around pretending they have a life. 3) i think it is a stupid way to get the school to come together. but that just my opinion and i cant say its 100% right or wrong. i just personally have better things to do. plus i dont have the drive for some of the stupid stuff the school does. but whatever.

School Spirit

While I understand why people would have school spirit, saying that you're only in high school once, etc, I don't have school spirit. I think that pep assemblies should be optional. They shouldn't have to force us to sit through a loud, pointless assembly. If we want to be there we will be, but some of us would rather not. On pep assembly days, I'll wear my orange t-shirt and wait out the day, listening to how pumped everyone else is, but when it actually comes time for the assembly, I leave. I hate pep assemblies and school spirit.

school spirit

personally me i love school spirit .. i like homecoming and i like to be pepped up .. it kinda bugs me when students are all unschool spirited just to be ... i think its like why cant you have school spirit for at least one day .. show some pride in your sports support them .. i support all activities not just sports so i dont underrstand why others cant support others ...why cant we take just a little bit of time and support .. is it really so bad to be pepped up for something ...

ahhh .. forgot about totem ...

i havent ben able to get on here for ever (due to my forgetfullness) ... but i think a soccerball best represents me because my whole life is wrapped around soccer and i have to cfoorddinate things around it so a soccer ball is my totem

school spirit

school spirit is for the lesser moral persons in our class. it's boring and lame, and i get totally bored watching people carry other students around in the gym during "games" that our school systen has divised and personally find it demeaning to the people who have to do those games. they get mocked by at least my friends, and that, while they are totally true, is just a sign of how inconsiderate the human race is. school spirit is boring.

School spirit??

For me having school spirit depends on the day, and i think it is really rude of people to yell in my face if i'm not standing up at an assembly. I was injured durring marching band and it hurt to walk to class let alone stand for lond periods of time and when someone yelled at me and told me that i either had to stand or move to a higher part in the bleechers i got kinda ticked off. I think it is my right to decide whether or not i can stand up not theirs.

School spirit??

_-^-_-^-_showcase_-^-_-^-_

I thought that this class needs a place to share creative works of words especially poems, so I posted this. This is a place where I hope my classmates will feel welcome to post things in the comments that they would want to share .

To start here is my poem in it's entirety :

---

Morbidly optimistic, Happily pessimistic

Humans have no way of telling emotions
Outside of happy or sad,
So they write words and do motions.
That give the reader the same feeling they had.

So my emotion
Is in this ocean.
Made of words.

Deathly dark mind
Of a
Whiter pale kind.

Painfully evil peace
with a
Mournfully joyous piece.

Blacker inner shell
makes a
terribly peaceful hell.

Whiter outer core
of a
Demoniacally terrible lore.

Greatly sad happiness
with a
very happy sadness.

Devilishly clever foe
of a
Lengthily short woe.

This poem has no meaning.
It is
Just a feeling.
I have.

---

Please, I would love to see your works.

School Spirit...

I believe in school spirit for the most part. I like watching all the different things that go on and I don't think that they are a waste of time. I like dressing up on most days. Especially (Sp) on lemon and black or class colors. Yeah, I would do a lot more dress up days if our class president motivated us more. (not dissing our class officers) And if more of our class actually cared about things and in practice time we all actually helped in doing something. But otherwise I think that school spirit is a good thing to have.

I also think that school spirit brings out your creative side, not all of us get to see look at everything someone does in art class or ceramics or some class like that, and so by having school spirit you can see everyone in the hall way or at lunch or in a class and see how they dressed up for like twin day or class colors, or something like that. So all in all I like school spirit and I think we all should try to have some spirit for our school.

I Don't believe in School Spirit. I believe that school is based on two things; Social skills, improving your responsibility, and educating your self. It shouldn't be wasted by trivial things such as a SHHS "pep assembly" I think that their should be assemblies that you show your support for your sporting teams, and showing that you care for your school and class, but it SHOULDN'T be shown by how loud you can be, how creative your skit was, how well you melt ice with your arse, and just being completely stupid. It should be shown by your cheering in the crowds, keeping your school clean, and supporting and showing a kind heart to all those in your class.
People should do these things by themselves, and should enjoy being a good human being

School Spirit

I do not have much school spirit because really i have never been motivated by the class president or anyone really. No one has given me a good reason why i should support a class who doesnt have a skit till the day of the assembly during the practice. So until our class office decides to plan ahead and really try to get our class motivated i will continue to do nothing for spirit except maybe one day.

School Assemblies

I am not agaisnt assemblies. It think that they have pros and cons though. It's tradtion and I think tradtions are great. If only they could be so everyone could enjoy them! I think people are almost confused to know whether being full of school spirit or not at all is the way to be. We complain of not winning or not dressing up, but really it needs to be a class effort!!! At the practices not everyone was participating, infact very few were and look what came from it. I think that the assemblies would be more enjoyable if there was effort from everyone. So the assembles are what you make them. I like them, they are a thing to look forward to, not just class everyday.

School Assemblies!

I love school assemblies, I thinks its fun to interact with all the students and have competitions and also to recognize all the students in athletics, because I know personally I work very hard in my sports and its nice to be recognized. But the biggest thing is that its fun to think of skits and cheers and see who can be the loudest class. I think its just a part of high school, memories that Im never going to get to replace. Your only in high school once, i've always said live life to the fullest.. So I personally love being in school assemblies and interacting with other students. But I also see how people think its stupid and they hate sitting through the assemblies, but maybe if they participated in them, they would think more of them and appreiciate the hard mork kids do to make school activites happen.

School Spirit

I personally really like pep assemblies. They are a good way to get your whole class involved, and make school interesting. I just wish our class would get involved. I think we could probably win pep assemblies if people would just step out of their comfort zone and get into them. I think the problem is people think they look stupid if they yell or something, and think they are cool if they just sit there. What's the point of going then? You're just ruining it for the people who want to be there. You might as well just skip and go do what you want instead of making your class look bad, because for everyone who just sits there, You DO make our class look bad. And plus, you don't look cool when you just sit there, you just look stupid. I think that when our class does come together, we are unstoppable, I mean look, We got first place on our homecoming float 2 years in a row, and we've beaten the class ahead of us in pep assemblies. Also we came close to 2nd place in homecoming by 7 points last year. And we were really close this year. I just hope that people understand where I'm coming from. I don't expect people to buy stuff for assemblies I just wish people would at least be loud, and support our class. Hopefully it will be better next pep assembly. Good job on homecoming class of 2012. We came really close to winning!

Lauren
:)

Topic #5 (Of a sort): Commentary

Thank you all for your honest and well, spirited answers to the last topic.  I'd like to give us a chance to digest what we have here, and for people who have fallen behind to catch up (Please do feel free to post late blogs), so this week, there will be no new blog topic.  Instead, your assignment is to respond to the past weeks: you must go to the first week and answer everyone's question, and then for each of the following weekly topics, you must post at least two substantive comments -- TOTAL, not for every post.  Substantive means that your comment must add something to the discussion; "I agree" or "lawlz" does not add anything to the discussion, but "I agree because my experience has been similar: I have often eaten Skittles, but I have never tasted the rainbow.  Perhaps the taste of the rainbow is a spiritual experience, rather than merely a physical one." is substantive -- it is on topic, and it has substance.  Your comment doesn't need to be long, but it should have a point. 

Two per week: that's two on Truth and Lies, two on Totems, and two on School Spirit, once you have answered all of the class's questions.  You don't need to answer my question.  You are, of course, welcome to comment on more than two posts, or more than once on the same post as a discussion develops.  A comment on your own post, that responds to another comment, will count as a comment for the assignment.

If you have already answered the class questions, and/or commented at least twice per week's topic, you are done for the week.  Feel free to comment more, as you like.



A few mechanical tips:

• the blog shows 7 posts per page initially, but if you click on one of the links in the list of the blog archive on the left-hand side, it will change that: click on a specific post title, and only that post will be shown; click on the month (September or October) and it will show every post for the month on a single page.  Click on 2009 and it will give you every single post to date on one page.

• To comment on a post, click on the "Comment" link at the end of the post; a second window will pop up and show all of the previous comments (If your browser is like mine it will give you a dialog box that asks about secure and non-secure items in the window; this is because people have avatar pictures that come from "insecure" links.  Say yes or no, it only changes how many pretty pictures you see).  The window has a box for entering new comments, which you will make use of.  You must close this window before opening a new comment window; you cannot simply bring the main blog page to the front and then click on a Comment link again.  Doing this makes the machine cry.  Not really, but wouldn't that be funny?

• If you simply must use html tags, they will work on the comments -- but nothing complicated.  You can use italics, bold, underlining, that sort of thing.  You do this by typing i, b, or u in angle brackets <> at the beginning of what you want to have italicized or in bold face, and then the same letter with a slash before it in angle brackets at the end of what you want to have italicized.  /i, /b, /u.

those damn assemblies

about the most i'll do for them is stand up but thats just to get off my ass and stretch. usually i have headphones in and music blasting to drown out all the "SPIRIT"if i did like this school and i did have spirit, orange is the worst color!!! i don't own a single thing orange and am not going to waste my time and money to get something orange. i just hate them, they portray football and sports as the most important in our school just to get a name for our school. we spend so much money on sports when half the student body is practially retarded and our text books are from the 80's. i love to be physical and fit, but i can do that on my own time, i came to school to learn and that's what i would like to happen!!!!!!!!!!!

School Spirt!!!

I have school spirt...
but its kind of hard to dress up when you have nothing to wear, which really sucks cause i love being involved with the school...I love the assemblies especially the star search one.I think we need new spirt days instead of having the same ones. I love the football games but it would be way better if we won them all..

It's Something More.

I have recently discovered that our school and all it's ways of going about things is a complete joke. Due to the fact that I am now 2 weeks behind in all of my classes I really felt like there was no reason to show any "spirit" towards our school. BUT, in this whole process I discovered something a lot more important than administrators and there lack of knowledge; the importance of students connecting and standing strong together. I guess this is what school spirit is even meant for. If people could step out of their own little bubble of thought and look at life in all it's entirety they could see that having school spirit isn't some shallow "we only do this cuz we're cool" sort of thing. It's not even about sports really. School spirit is something that generations and generations before us created to build bonds and connect with other students. We need to stick together. Do any of you realize how amazing this world would be if we took that concept of togetherness and actually projected it into the real world.

But of course, people in this world, but more importantly in this school, are one sided and choose not to allow their thoughts to push outside the boundaries of what they believe. Just remember, this is the time that we use to learn skills we can use in the future. Maybe I am making such a simple thing as "school spirit" too big of a deal, but this is just a small thing that represents something a lot bigger.

Keep this in mind: Next time you are at a pep assembly instead of thinking about how stupid and pointless it is, think about how much fun you are having getting to be with your class and it doesn't matter how "popular" you are or how you look, how we all pull together and try to be something stronger than before. And if you still choose to be a close minded downer and not participate at assemblies than please just leave. If you don't want to try and make our school a better place than we don't need you. And as you sit in the halls and watch us file out of the gym doors full of the laughs and smiles that we had created, you can think about how you will NEVER have that.

They have spirit. That may be true. They have spirit, but I can't say I do!

I have mostly the same opinion as those expressed in the other posts. I don't like going to the Pep Assemblies and getting yelled at for having no school spirit. I see no point in school spirit. The only thing that it improves is your ability to yell and vociferate, a skill that is almost entirely useless in day to day life.
I see nothing wrong with honoring our sports teams, but I think that we do it more than enough, and we disregard whether or not they win or are successful in any way. They are honored just for participating (or for just being on the team if they are bench warmers).
One thing that comes to mind when I think of this is the poem we read recently about the old high school basketball star who got a low-end job in his town even though he most likely had been one of the most popular students in his school at one time. Sports are OK when in high school, but they serve little purpose later on in life, so, to me, seem like a rather pointless endeavor. (no offense intended to any sport players in our class.)
When I look at the posts on this blog, I must say that the vast majority seem to be either indifferent to pep assemblies and sports or just dislike them in general. If most students dislike the pep assemblies, and they do not help the students in any way, I don't see what purpose they serve. With this in mind I think that the school should do more to honor its students academically. The only way it seems to do this is some short, unintelligible announcements once a year.
The only thing that I can say that I really like about class spirit is our class name, Sophmorsauroses. I still am rather indifferent, but I like the name none the less.


In the topic of pride in other things, like ones country, I must say that I am proud of my country, but I am not proud of its government or many of the people in it. I don't really feel like saying much on this topic, so I will end here. There is much room for improvement in the US.

What school spirit? Oh... that

School Spirit; noun: An excuse for those who place a false importance into a game to act like fools and it not be viewed as gaucherie.

I think that pretty clearly states my view. I also, personally, find it frustrating when those who have School Spirit and revolve their life around it get mad at those of us who don't. Freedom of speech and the right to assemble peacefully go both ways, no one can, nor should try to force us to speak or assemble at all. But that's just me.

As Posted by Elisa Frost.

School spirit is over rated. It's for popular kids who have nothing better to do but yell at you for sitting during the pep assemblies. Ef them. I only pep assemblies cuz u get to sit and make fun of the people on the floor. ITs sure beats going to Language Arts 10 H. Oh woops!! Did I say that out loud? Nah, Im just kidding, Its prolly like my favorite class. Actually, it is. I like Mr. Humphrey. He makes it fun.

Anyways, school sirit is not worth dressing up for.

As Posted by Cole Charbonneau (Edited by Josh Hooker)


Alright. I really do not believe in school spirit. It's fine, as long as long as it doesn't apply to me. I f people want to paint their faces and run screaming through the halls, great. Just don't expect me to do it. While I am Ok with school spirit, I absolutely hate pep assemblies. Usually, when something bores me out of my mind, I just read. Have you ever tried reading in the middle of a screaming mass of people? So I just sit there and be miserable while they cheer on some guy who's barfing out his insides after drinking a gallon of milk or some such torture. Last time I made the mistake of sitting next to the really obsessed people who kept screaming at me to get up. "Don't you have any pride in your class!?" um... no? What's there to be proud about? How is yelling at the top of my lungs expressing pride? What I am proud of.. well, uh... I really can't think of anything. I have pretty high expectations, I guess. Whatever. Bye.

As Posted by Will Charbonneau


School spirit is an okay thing in my opinion but I think people take it too seriously. I don't think it should be centered around sports and I really think people see the wrong side of the school spirit thing. I think school spirit should be something about showing the general public that the people at our school are good citizens and that we aren't all what people think of when they picture a teenager. We should find more ways as a school to participate in community service projects or something like that. Dress up days can be fun if they are creative but if they are things like retro day and class colors days that we have every year then they are pointless, boring, and stupid. Class competitions and pep assemblies are the most annoying and stupid things we could be forced to participate in. What's the point of participating when you know the seniors will win every time just because they are stronger, more experienced, smarter, and all the people who are going to drop out have already left? This does not mean that in two and a half years when I'm a senior I will want to participate but I don't see why we are forced to go to these things. I would much rather go to classes than sit through a pep assembly. I despise it when anyone yells at me to stand up especially because they are always people who think they are better than me just because they are willing to be stupid and "show school spirit". Yeah right. That just makes me less proud of my school.

As Posted by Olivia Sorensen


This pretty much sums up my view on School Spirit. Also, a Quote from Elliot O'Driscoll-Jones
" You've got spirit, yes you do! You've got spirit, but no IQ!"

spirit for the school

In my poinion school spirit is important, it pumps up the teams competing that week, and get everyone involved in the school. It's really annoying when people sit and talk when people are performing and trying to talk though.
but i do think school spirit is important.

School spirit...

I like our assemblies. I like going to them and cheering on our teams. I don't like how people do not participate though. And I'm not saying that everyone has to, because I get that some people don't like the assemblies or the school at all. And that's okay, I think that the assemblies should not be mandatory.

School spirit.

School spirit has always been an iffy thing for me. I don't hate it, nor do i absolutely love it. It's one of those things that is just there. Now, being apart of the football team i take pride in my team-which results in taking pride in the school and so on, but if i didn't play football... i wouldn't care, really. I do love making the freshman look like fools, however :)

Poop-head Spirit...

Sure I may enjoy watching the team if we are winning, but I don't have any real faith in any of our sports. Assemblies are just loud and a distraction. I only like going to assemblies to meet up with friends. The people who come up with the assemblies are poop-heads. YAY!! we have we aren't all lazy bums! now you may leave. That is what I get from pep assemblies band what I think they should be. Just to donfuse people. The only thing I have spirit for is... actually I dont know. I guess I have spiit for band, but I just like music in general.

School spirit

I honestly don't have any spirit for this school. Especially for sports. I don't think we should even have these things. What do they do for us? Absolutely nothing. They have no value for anybody. All you do is yell at people doing incredibly stupid things for a pole. A Pole!! Who cares about a pole?! What will anybody do with a stupid pole?! Absolutely nothing. It's sad that that's the prize yet people still try to get something that dumb. It's a sad day for people when we try to get a pole. I just can't believe it.

Totem

What represents me? I think that maybe a an animal like a cat would do a good job, although i dislike cats i find that we are alike in many ways, both loners, only want attention when I say its alright, i dont know maybe its wayyyy off.

Spirit

I don't really care for the assemblies that much. But what I do like about them is getting out of the classroom. Would you rather sit in class and learn stuff, or would you rather stand or sit in the bleachers and yell or not yell if you want to? I would pick the second one. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm sure some people would agree.

PS, green ftw.

Spirit? Ha!

I figured I'd make this post colorful. If you're colorblind, good luck reading it.

As to the the title of my post, I don't have school spirit because school spirit is centered around sports; I am not a sports fan.

I think that all schools are about learning, not about rooting for your favorite team. Playing some type of sport is a good workout, and can be fun for some, but school should not revolve around them. I also find that taking forty-five minutes plus out of our school day to attend an obscenely loud (I have sensitive ears, so ear-splitting), overrated assembly is simply a waste of time. I won't say that people who go to these assemblies and have fun are crazy, I'm just saying that I hate pep assemblies. What good is pride in a school that finances sports instead of... buying more copies of science books, or paying teachers a higher salary (they are teaching the future of our country!), or even fixing up the disgusting restrooms? Not to mention that pep assemblies are about competition between classes. I think that it's stupid that pep assemblies are mandatory. I especially think that having a pep assembly where people just melt blocks of ice with their butts is just stupid (I heard this really happened... I'm glad I missed that assembly).

Most of our teachers are coaches, and that's perfectly fine, but I have seen teachers where everything revolves around SPORTS! Memorabilia, trophies, and pictures of LIONS cover their rooms' walls! For example, a Health teacher, they are supposed to be teaching us how to keep our bodies healthy, so a touch on sports is just fine, but mentioning it every lesson is unnecessary. A Social Studies teacher should have pictures relating to history, not football.

The only thing I like about pep assemblies is that I get to leave school early. My mom gives me a note to get out of every one, including homecoming this Friday.

Rant over.

S-P-I-R-I-T

School Spirit. Enough said.

I enjoy the pep assemblies. I have fun cheering on my class and being a part of a team. However, I find it sad that we do them only for sporting events. What about all the kids who don't take part in athletics? I support our school teams and think they are a great addition to school but why not have other assemblies showing off other clubs? Sports are not the only thing the school offers and we tend to focus on them more than everything else. I don't think it is very fair to acknowlege only one area type. In my opinion, we need to show some pride to all the rest of us hard working people. Show off the kids that are working hard to get amazing grades or are artistically gifted. My point is, involve EVERYONE. We all have our talents and our challenges. Focus on the pros and get everyone involved.

School Spirit

When it comes to me and "school spirit" I would have to say, I'm going to have to rain on your parade. I have no school spirit, considering I feel no loyalty to the High School whatsoever. I believe to have spirit for something, you have to enjoy being around it, which is a no go for me when It comes to the High School. Sports aren't my thing, and hot, sweaty, loud, migrane inducing pep assemblies aren't either. So hey, school spirit has a bad connotation for me.

Catching up

Truth/Lies

I think that little lies don't really matter as long as the lie is to someone that is not very emotionally close to you. I can't stand when someone close to me lies about something serious. It doesn't bother me when someone lies about something important when they don't mean a lot to me. If that makes any sense at all.


Totem

I couldn't think of anything that represented me so I took a silly online quiz that told me I was like a crow... I thought that was weird. But this is what it said:
"You are the Crow. You are able to discover your own character and help others find themselves as well. You are very creative in the field you are in and tend to be the intelligent one of the bunch."
Nice nice.

Pep Assemblies

My freshman year I was all for school spirit. I would look forward to pep assemblies and getting out of class early. This year I have seemed to lose all my school spirit. Currently, Mr. Carvalho is patrolled outside in one of the parking lots before every assembly to hunt down kids trying to get out of school early. I see him in his cool shades with a walkie-talkie and notepad. Probably writing down license plates or kids' names that he recognizes so they can later be faulted for their dirty deeds. I see classmates desperately speeding off school grounds just because they'd rather not tolerate people screaming at the top of their lungs for something they don't quite care for. Personally I don't think pep assemblies should be required. But that's just my opinion.

UGHHHHH!

I hate pep assemblies!!! They are noisy and the only thing that they accomplish is to get you out of your classes for about 5 minutes each. I wouldn't say that I have no school spirit though. I wear orange to represent the sophmores and I wear black and yellow on school colors day. But screaming for the people representing my class to win the activity that is being played on the gym floor is not how I show my school spirit. I show it by working hard so that when I go to a xc or track meet, I can compete against the other teams instead of just running behind them. (I'd just like to point out that even though I do cross country and I run track, I DO NOT DO sports and I can't catch a ball!) and I show it by playing pep tunes at the football games with the band. I think it's great that we have pep assemblies so that people who want to show spirit by going can go but I think that they should not be mandatory and you should be able to leave early from school with out getting in trouble!

Spirit fingers!

School spirit has never been a solid opinion for me. What I mean by this is somedays I enjoy it, and other days I think it's a complete waste of time.  I haven't been to a football game once this year, because every time I went last year they would always loose. I lost a lot of spirit, because it was sad to see our team loose by sixty every game, but this year we are actually winning. I can't say I love pep assemblies, but I can say I tolerate them. I think pep assemblies should be optional, because it isn't really fun for people who aren't in the mood/dislike the sport. Pep assemblies CAN be fun, but I think there is more to life than screaming at the top of your lungs for a sport.

School Spirit

I didn't used to like school spirit a whole lot. I realize this was so because I really didn't want a bond with any of my classmates. But in recent months a lot of those feelings have changed I still don't want any bonds with just anyone but I am making friends and I like to celebrate my school with them. I define school spirit as... having the courage to support people you may not even like a whole lot and to cheer them on. School spirit is only fun if YOU make it fun, in my opinion. I think it's a good thing for me because it makes me feel good about myself. Most everyone wants to be part of a group full of people who are all working towards one goal and I've never really had that, so Pep Assemblies/School Spirit are a great way to accomplish that feeling. Is St. Helens High School successful in using school spirit to accomplish that purpose? I think that the High School could also have Pep Assemblies that focus on things like Clubs, Band, Choir and Theater.

As for being proud of any other particular group, I don't quite have such a thing. When I was younger, I used to be really proud of my family. I'm proud and grateful of my immediate family but I realize now that I am older that other family members I have are nothing to be proud of. I am though, eternally greatful for my grandmother, great aunt and uncle and a grandfather.

So to conclude, no I do not feel any other pride for anything else other than school spirit and during pep assemblies, sadly.

Topic #4: We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do

It's Homecoming Week! Everybody dress up in -- what is it? Oh, yes, I think Retro Day is tomorrow. I suppose that means I should get a mullet and peg my jeans. (Stop before you get too excited: I'm never going to get a mullet. Never. Seriously.)


I don't believe in school spirit. I think there is too much of an emphasis on athletics, which is attached to school spirit -- after all, this entire week of celebrations is basically revolving around a football game -- but there's more to it. It has to do with my feelings about pride in places and names, such as pride in one's family or community, in one's alma mater or graduating class, in one's favorite team or band or NASCAR driver, in one's religion, in one's country.  It also has to do with my own high school experience, which, as I've mentioned, was less than sublime; I had no interest in belonging to my school or my class, and I never once attended a sporting event nor, as I recall, a pep assembly (They were not mandatory at Newton North High School; in fact, I don't believe they happened during school hours -- I don't remember getting to leave early.) I have a large, even sweeping, opinion on the whole thing.

But once again, my opinion is not the important one. Yours is the important -- well, not one, since there are 35 of you. But your opinions are more important than mine. I may try to get to my opinion later on, but first I want to hear what you have to say.

What is your opinion of school spirit? How would you define it? Do you think it is fun, or pleasant, or interesting, in and of itself? Is school spirit good for you, helpful for you, personally? Does it serve a greater purpose? If so, what is that greater purpose? Is St. Helens High School successful in using school spirit to accomplish that purpose? If not, could it improve?  How?

I also wonder about your feelings about pride in other groups, so I'll ask: what else are you proud of, other than your own accomplishments? Are you proud of your family name and reputation? Your town, state, or country? Your religion? Your membership in a club, or your inclusion in a group such as supporters of a certain college football team? What are your thoughts about this kind of pride, this group spirit?

As always, you do not have to answer all of those questions, or even any of them; you just have to respond to the topic in some way. Your responses are due by Saturday, October 17.

I think...

I am not one for anthropomorphism with animals, especially the other way around in comparing me to animals, so I didn't use animals in my totem.

---

I think that a totem should be made up of multiple objects, so I put three items on mine. Gears, the Thinker, and Alpha. After a little work with editing some pictures, their color, and lighting I got this:

Its not a flag, but it is a symbol, something that I could use to represent me.

---

The gears have multiple meanings for me. I like to take objects, ideas and problems and look at them logically and step by step, see how they work (or don't work), how one thing leads to another and how they all fit together. This is one of the reasons why I enjoy mathematics.

---

The Thinker is rather self-explanatory. I take time to ponder and contemplate things, even if there is no practical gain to them, I will think about things just for the sake of having something to ponder.

---

The Alpha has two meanings for me. The first is that it is a letter, both a Greek and English one, and I enjoy writing. Aside from symbolizing writing it also is the first letter in the alphabet; thus, I think it is a good symbol for myself in that I try to put all the effort I can into almost everything I do. I don't normally settle for the second best I can do.

---

My Totem

If I had to pick a totem, I would pick the Raven. The Raven is a trickster, and plays jokes on mankind. And sometimes they go awry and he ends up on the butt of his own joke. But there is still humor in this. This is like me, because I like to joke around, and sometimes the joke ends up backfiring and I'm the one that look stupid, but it is still funny.

What's my totem?

If I had to choose my totem, I would be an owl, because owls can fly, and see in the night, and they are very unique. I think they're very graceful and pretty animals, and they have good features about them. Also I think it would be awesome to be able to turn my head almost all the way around.

If I couldn't be an owl, I would be a giraffe, because they can see anything in the wild, and you could get food out of trees easily. I guess my bottom line is I would want to be an animal that has features about them that make their lives easier.

Lauren
:)

Totem

I have no idea what would be my totem because there is never really one thing that symbolizes me. I change what im like alot so i never really know what would describe me. I feel like my totem would just be completely random with blank spots then random bursts of color and some dark spots. Otherwise nothing really symbolizes me to much.

Ghostly Fox

My totem... I created an emblem for my self a while ago. It is the one i like most. The Ghostly part was added because if i wanted to, I could stroll through my day practically unnoticed. Thus I feel like a ghost.... not to mention I like to lurk to the fridge and back, but that's another story. :)
The Fox part... well... every one loves wolves. I wanted to be a different cookie so I chose the fox. I prefer to think of my self as the fox from The Chronicles of Narnia, loyal. Although I can be deceiving and a little tricky. If i don't say so my self.

Truth is good, but not always blunt

Truth is a very important quality for trust. I believe it is always good to tell the truth. lying hasn.t ever been an issue for me, but being blunt has... It often occurs with women. And if there is any guy that doesnt know this, DON'T tell your girlfriend something bluntly if it's bad. It can be very stressful trying to convince her that it was the hair Style that reminded you of a wookie, not the hair its self. That is onle of the few times i have ever regreted telling the truth...

Westward Facing, Always Changing.

I have had an extremely hard time with this topic. I have been constantly trying to think of something that could represent me as a whole and honestly I find that quite impossible.

I am like the wind. I fly high and free.
I am like the sky. Open wide for everyone to see.
I am a dream. Constantly lost but always where I am happy.

I search low, I live, I breathe.
Floating, hovering, waiting for something, or anything.
I change my shape and hide my face.
Slow it down or pick up the pace.

Look to the west. That's where you'll find me.
I am the sun. Patiently setting.

I don't really know if this answered the prompt. It's just something that spewed out of my brain when I started typing. I guess what it means is I am represented by everything and nothing at the same time. What I'm saying is that nothing defines me.

I am what I want, when I want it.

I honestly don't know what my totem would be. Would it be a intangible thing or idea, or would it be an object? I don't really know. I thought about maybe a dictionary, its a book. I love to read, so why not a book? A book by itself doesn't really describe and show me. A computer, something I use a lot, but, then it still doesn't fit. I think that my totem is, Space.

Totem?

I would say I'm a bear. I'm laid back, and easygoing unless you really start irritating me.  I'm there for the ones who need me, and I roam around doing my own thing.

mountain

A totem that i think best describes me would be a mountain. i like to try and stand tall and be courageous. A mountain seems to symbolize that in the way i think of it. i also love the outdoors and adventure. the maintain also sombolizes wildness which is something you cant really contain which i feel represents me well.

the totem pole:

a hummingbird.

That's what I would want my totem to be. I wish I could fly, just fly away and escape my problems. They're so fast and small, no one could catch me; that's me, that's what I do. I run away from things i'm not strong enough to face.

My Totem Would Be A Hummingbird.

My Totem!

This was hard for me to think of...but I came to the conclusion that my totem is the rainbow. The rainbow is always changing colors. The colors probably represent what mood im in... Also the biggest thing is you dont always notice the rainbow. Which i think is like me too, somethimes im feel very noticed and people see me. Then other times i am hidden and people dont notice me at all.

totem

i would say that my totem would be a tree. i love the outdoors and nature and can't go a day without going outside for sometime. being in nature is one of my favorite things

My totem

Im going to say anything cold.
I enjoy the cold weather, and during that weather, im happiest.
Cold weather represents me because i can be cold to others, i can show them that i dint care about them.

Totem: Leo

My totem is that of a lion; more specifically, Leo. Leo is my Zodiac Sign, and many of the things about Leo match with my personality. The good: "Generous and warmhearted, creative and enthusiastic, broad-minded and expansive, faithful and loving" (from Astrology Insight).I would rather not mention the bad >.> <.< Look it up :P

Here's a little picture I made for my totem:

The totem i choose is the Hummingbird because i love life and its beauty, I'm joyful,easy going, and peaceful. I love to live and see all of nature's glory. I love the spring for all the colors and life.All the beauty I'm surrounded by sometimes (and i will admit) can make me a little vain.I'm very happy and the way life flows, my life is good.Just like a HUMMINGBIRD...

Musical Totem

My totem would have to be the Treble Clef. Music is so powerful. It can have so many different moods and affect people in all different ways. I see myself as having many layers, as music does, and being able to personally affect people can be a good thing. Helpful or otherwise. Music has always been a big part of my life. It has the ability to be there for everyone, which is what I like most. No matter what personality type you have you can still find music to suit you. La la lalala!

Totem

If i were to pick an animal to symbolize me it would have to be the mongoose. i do not like to be the upfront and personal type of person. I much rather kind of "hang back" i guess and observe. Just like the mongoose, they dont go outright and kill things, they are sneaky, sly. They live in big packs (20-30) which i also like more than just being a loner.

I am rain. I'm happy and light, I'm dark and cold and I love the idea of being everywhere at once.

My Totem

My Totem.... I think my totem would have to be the grass.

The reason why I would have those as my "totems" is because I always feel at peace with my self when I am either on the grass just laying there.

I can think about anything I want when I am there just me and the grass. The world beneath me. I can always relax and just day dream. I think that the grass has always been there.

Totem...

My "spirit guide" as you call it would most definitely be the moon. I am fascinated by the moon, and have been all my life, which is probably the reason I'm a night owl. I associate the moon with being quiet and still ( just as I see myself), since generally the nighttime is just that. I also have dreams about the moon often, usually in a prolific manner such as an an eclipse, or by it falling to earth, and I associate the moon with feelings of mysticism and fanciful ideas, traits that run rampant in my thoughts. So basically I just feel I have a strong personal fondness for the moon, and this is why it is my totem.

Two for one...

Hmmm, believe that I would be the theatrical masks. For the most part i am happy, but if i am not, I wont let anyone see it. Hence, the opposite, simultanious emotion. I still will try to be as nice as possible to the people I interact with, but it will not be genuine emotion.

As for the truth/lies topic:
Lies that build are better than truths that destroy.
Senegalese Proverb

A Totem That Is Me

I think that if I were to choose on thing that would represent me, I'd choose the season spring. Spring is right after winter when all the flowers are starting to come out but it's not so deep into the year that the sun is really hot. It's kinda in between the extremes and it's mellow but there are also days that are bitterly cold and you wonder why it's called spring and not post winter and there are days that are intensly hot (if you are sitting with the wind blocked) and I wonder why it shouldn't be called pre summer. There are days that I have that I am upset and angry and not mellow and I also have days that I am intensly happy or excited. But mostly I am mellow, of course, I fluctuate during the day, but what day in the spring stays exactly the same all day long?

I can.... fly.

My totem is a hummingbird. I flutter about the place, like the brisk flitting of a hummingbirds' wings and am careful with how I percieve people, like a hummingbird withdrawing nectar from a flower. I'm consistent and determined as this beautiful creature is when on it's path to find the best flower.

It's kind of difficult to describe so just imagine a hummingbird, now imagine me and put them side by side. Voila!

Determination

Though I like to elephants, I cannot readily relate this animal to myself nor I to it. My Mom once gave us coin sized 'spirit pockets' that have Pacific Northwest Indian Engravings on them. For example my siblings received a Turtle; 'Patience'-a Sun; 'Energy'-Totem; 'Wisdom'. I was given one with a Salmon; 'Determined'.
I realized the salmon swim upstream, against the current. It is a long, strenuous voyage. To liken this to myslef, My sojourn in life can be difficult, however if I remain resolute in this endeavor I can reach my goals. So I press on, and "just keep swimming." ;)

The Animal I Am

Well, I think I've taken 14 "what animal are you most like and what is your animal spirit" quizzes so far and am quite intrigued with the results.

I began this quiz spree trying to find something that stood out to me and made sense, but out of the 9 'What animal are you most like quizzes I got 9 different answers. So far I'm most like: The wild horse, cat, penguin, cow, crocodile, elephant, owl, eagle, and snake. When I got to the spirit animal quizzes I started to find answers that actually made sense to me. I got that my spirit animal was a wolf twice, and then a bear, wild horse, and phoenix.

I never really paid attention specifically to the animals these quizzes gave me because "what would you say if you were given the choice between Coke and Pepsi?" Doesn't have anything to do with what kind of animal you are.

The descriptions of why the animal was given to me was the main thing, and of those descriptions two stood out to me: the wolf and the phoenix.
I won't choose between these two because they are both so accurate to two of my underlying personalities. The wolf being an animal of solitude that is a loyal companion, loving the night and enjoying the freedom to roam the forest, and quite earth oriented. And the phoenix for its fiery passion, and wildness of eyes, some things buried deep some shown, but those two are what I'm saying represent me.
THE PHOENIX AND THE WOLF.
-Just me and my chaotic multiple personality disorder.

Oh here is the response to the lying topic

I think that, like many have said lying is part of human nature. But i also think we all know it is WRONG, or it wouldn't be questionable. It would be hyporitical to go on and on about how people lie because I have lied before as well. Not excessivly, but typically. But I do believe that people can become a compulsive liars, often rarely being trusted. It is hard to trust someone that lies all the time. Trust is one of the most important traits a person can have an any relationship of any kind. And we all know this. That is why honesty and not lying is so important. Lying is a waste of breath. Besides if you do screw up or something happens you can always reassure yourself by saying or thinking "At least I told the truth." Often times the truth prevents us from trouble. And if I lie, I that guiltly feeling is never inviting. BUT, I find this hard to write knowing this is MUCH easier to write then do, not just everyone but me too.

Topic #3: Totems

There are many ways that human beings symbolize, epitomize, re-create and re-imagine themselves. We find colors, images, words, poems, songs, foods, cars, and, of course, symbols that represent aspects of our personalities, and we declare these things to be: us. If I were an animal, I would be. If I were a natural disaster, I would be. If I were a song, I would be. These sorts of thought-prompts are most familiar today as, well, just that -- thought prompts. Journal topics and questionnaire fodder, maybe even small talk on dates or stay-up-all-night slumber party activities. But they have been part of human thought as long as there has been human thought: pre-historic and pre-literate civilizations also aligned themselves and represented themselves with non-human objects, creatures, patterns, ideals, phenomena. If personification is the granting of human traits to non-human things, in order to identify or highlight a specific attribute and meaning of that non-human thing, perhaps this could be called de-personification: the removal of human traits from human things -- or more properly, the transference of human traits to non-human things.
Or we could just use the word "totem."

My handy dictionary defines totem as "an animal, plant, or natural object that serves as a symbol of a clan or family among a certain group of peoples." Perfect, except for the limitation on types of objects that could be totems. Perhaps thousands of years ago, when the people who symbolized themselves with a totem only had natural objects around to serve as their representation, that would have been appropriate; but now, I think man-made and technological objects should also serve. I see no reason why a person's totem couldn't be, say, a computer, or an iPod.


I'd like each of you to choose a totem for yourself. One object, an animal, plant, natural phenomena, or other non-human thing, to serve as your representation. Some ways to think about this: you could start by answering the thought-prompts above. If you were an animal, what would you be? A plant? A natural disaster? What if you were a season? Or a color? You could also try choosing your spirit guide: think of anything other than a human that has appeared often in your dreams, night- or day-; anything that you have felt a close kinship with (even if that thing is a hacky-sack [which, if you feel kicked around, loose and limp, but still the center of attention, would be a pretty accurate totem] or a vehicle of some kind), and identify that as your totem.

I chose to think about this in this way: if I were the ruler of my own country -- Dustia (Not really -- what a lame name for a country. There needs to be something about Kingdom or Potentate in there, and a few hyperbolic descriptors -- Eternal and Majestic Kingdom of Dustia, that kind of thing.) -- what would be on the flag? I tried to create an image of my country's flag, but since I'm terrible at using drawing programs, this is all I got:

I chose the wolf because I identify with wolves: I am basically a loner, though I have my own family (pack) that I am extremely loyal to and protective of.  I tend to be standoffish and observant, rather than aggressive, though I am also very territorial -- I hate when people come to my door, or walk across my lawn.  I also like to eat meat, and accept the moral implications of killing so that I may live without any qualms -- but I would never hunt for sport.  I liked this simple image of a wolf, with a tree and the moon, because I prefer to think about things in broad strokes, rather than fine detail; I know a little bit about a whole lot of things, but I don't go very deep into any particular subjects (Well, except writing.).  I also love trees; the forest is my favorite natural habitat (also works well with the wolf), and I find the moon utterly fascinating both as object and as symbol.

I chose the lightning because I like lightning, and this was a great image of it.  Lightning also represents my wife, who is fascinated by the stuff; finally, lightning represents my other predominant trait: obsession.  See, I'm not always a shallow thinker; I also get thoroughly wrapped up in some thoughts, which I then can't get out of my head for days, weeks, even years.  The thought patterns lead to others, and then those sometimes get stuck in my head.  I imagine conversations, for instance, that I feel like I should have had; those can lead, in my head, to future imagined conversations, and whole new relationships.  These can go on and on, new thought chains sprouting off of the old and going in all new directions -- look at this post, for instance, which should be about 1/5 as long as it is.  I do this stuff all the time.  David Rigall mentioned fractals in class a week or two ago, and I thought that was a particularly apt symbol, since fractals are infinitely repeating patterns -- kind of like my more obsessive thought-chains.  And lightning, it turns out, is a decent example of a fractal: forks made of forks made of forks made of forks, and so on.

So there you have it, my personal flag, with my personal totem(s) on it.  Wolf, tree, lightning.  I could have used books -- or I could have used this image (Either of them, actually), but I decided I wanted to make this flag.  By the way: writing this post took me two hours, which is about five times as long as I wanted it to.  Because, you see, I had to do several Google Image searches, each of which completely distracted me; then I had to use two different drawing programs to make the flag (which still doesn't look like I want it to -- can't get rid of that white space), and save the file in three different formats before I got Blogger to upload it.  See what I mean about obsessive?

Please don't go to that much effort.  It has made me sad, and I don't want you to feel the same.  Just think of a nice totem to represent yourself, and describe it, and explain it. By Saturday, October 10, please.

**Remember: no limits on what the totem is.  Doesn't have to be an animal, doesn't have to be any single thing.  Just -- an object, place, animal, plant, natural phenomenon, concept, etc., that represents you.

Chopping the Cherry Tree

---

Honestly I do not think that there is any good or OK form of lying in any circumstance. Also lying is, I think, more of a spectrum that never touches good. Lauren's example of lying to get out of a situation where your "friends" (used in the loosest possible sense, because these really wouldn't be friends) want you to do something illegal (assumed to be unjust) is on the better side of this spectrum; however, there is always something better that could be done. Simply refusing would be the best option and also the hardest. If you think about it; however, the better (morally) something is, often, the harder it is. Let me know in the comments if you disagree with any of this and why.

As for the question: "Is honesty really a better thing than deception? ... [D]oes our culture truly teach that it is?" I think that in the early days of America we really did. For example the quote, "Honesty is the best policy" and the story of Washington and the cherry tree both showed honesty to be an honorable trait. Also in court people had to swear with their hand on the Bible. Now we show that lying is bad because of natural consequences, but we seldom show that honesty is good even if it gains you nothing personally. We have also watered down the the oath that is sworn in court so that we are not ever swearing by anything. There is no reason for non-religious people to feel bound be the oath except for the perception of how much risk they have of getting caught. For people who have philosophically reasoned that society can not function without some honesty, there is the hope they will honor the oath because they realize that honesty is good.
This really wasn't mentioned in the topic, but there are some situations where the definition of a lie might not apply. eg. jokes and others.

Lying

Personally, I don't agree with lying, and I can look at life, and tell myself that I don't lie very often. I wont say that I've never lied, or never will, I just don't lie that often. I think in most ways lying is really bad. But on the other hand, lying can work to our advantage. By this I mean that I we can get ourselves out of harmful situations, for example if a group you're with want's to do something illegal, and you don't want to you could lie, and tell your friends that you're parents are making you go home or something along those lines. I think that that's an okay lie, but i think people take advantage of lying and use it in the wrong way. Lying in a bad way is not okay. I mean look how bad it's gotten in areas of life? Divorce, Hate, Crime, It's all somewhere based around lying. And not in a good way. This is just my take on lying. And even though at times where I do get caught in a lie around my parents, I don't regret the punishment because it's teaching me something and if you do lie in the real world, you're not gonna have a months work of chores and then you're off the hook, it could get you a whole lot worse.

:)
Lauren

Even though its wrong, we lie. Its part of human nature to deceive, we are liars. We would rather deceive and live in a tangled web of lies. I lie. you Lie. Mr Humphrey lies, everyone does. what matters is how big that white lie can become.

When thinking of this question I thought about Robert Jordan. The reason I though of Robert Jordan is that when reading his books, lies, deceit, the truth or half-truth, they all matter intensely to the plot of the books and the outcome of events.
In a way, well, it always depends on the situation, but, in a way neither telling the whole truth or an outright lie is always best, but in my personal experience, telling others the Truth if not all, but some, has always benefited everyone involved more that lying has. I try not to lie, but if I must, I will.

Topic 2

I believe that you should always tell the truth no matter what it is about. Because when you lie you become entangled in lies that you cant get out of and you are eventually going to have to tell the truth. I know that i have lied probably over a million times in my life because no one ever really wants to tell the truth often and if they do it can be really hard at times. I lie alot mainly to my parents to cover up stupid things ive done or to get them to stop bugging me. I think that the best way though is to just tell the truth.

Honestly,

It would be nice if everyone didn't have to lie, but it's something that we often have to do. I'm not saying that we should always lie. I would love for someone to come out and tell me the truth about everything, but that isn't how most things work. We need to be dishonest about some things. If we as a people knew half of what was really going on in this world we would go crazy. We aren't meant to know all of the truth.

I don't think you have to lie always. Little things shouldn't be lied about. If the lie will make the situation needed you to lie to make it all better then do so. Truthfully, I think that if you do something really bad you should lie to your parents (depending on how they'll take it). Most parents would be a lot better of with a lie or the partial truth.

All I'm saying is be smart when you lie, tell the truth when necessary, and don't be stupid.

Lie.

Everyone lies and theres no doubt about it. But when is it the right time to lie? Do you lie when it won't hurt them just because you think it's fun? Or do you lie when it will hurt them because you don't want them to be hurt? But in the end they will find out anyway. They will be hurt if you tell them the truth, but they will be even more hurt if you lie and then they find out. I try to tell the truth as much as I can. And when I do lie, it usually comes back to bite me, and the situation gets worse. This is why you should tell the truth as much as possible, and keep the lieing to the minimum.

Lies taken to seriously..

To lie is sometimes the best way to go, but i can get you in a lot of trouble. You could just be playing a game on someone but it goes to far and you end up hurting them instead. So i want to know how far is to far? Does it depend on the person? On the lie? How do you decide whether or not you it will hurt someone in the end??? How do you decide whether you care enough not to lie to that person??

That's a lie!

I think that the truth is overrated. Everybody lies, I lie, all the time actually. Sometimes lying is necessary and sometimes it's just convenient. If someone asks me for my opinion, I'll give it to them honestly, but if i feel like it would hurt their feelings, and I care whether or not I hurt their feelings, then I'll lie. And I don't feel bad about it, it's just how it is. Sometimes lying can get you into trouble, yeah, but that's just how lying goes.

The truth, and nothing but the truth (and maybe some lies)

This is a tough question, in my opinion.
If you lie to them about things that are actually important, it can lead to some bad consequences.
For instance, if there is a married couple, and one asks out of nowhere:
Do you love me?
Then he/she shall deserve the truth.
I think it is more important to tell the other [say for instance]
No I do not love you
Than to say they do and not mean it.
They'd find out soon enough, right?
But if a person asks,
Do I have food on my face?
And the friend says no, although they do, nothing that bad will happen.
Sure, they might get a few stares from people or a couple laughs,
but if you're like me, you'll find out really quickly and you'll just laugh it off.


What my point is, is that if the answer is important enough to the person asking, I think they deserve the truth.
It doesn't need to be all at once;
but people don't need to be padded by lies.


I hope this made sense.

Honesty is the best policy... or is it?

I believe honesty is usually the best policy. However, there are exceptions to the rule. I don't like to lie and typically don't. I'm more of a 'leave out truths' than a liar. I feel less guilty about leaving out the truth than straight up lying, but I guess they aren't far from each other. There are certain people who I will not lie to, and then there are those that I'm not so close to. It doesn't mean I will be dishonest to the less close ones it just means I don't explain as much to them as I do to my close friends and family. I am very lucky to have a mother very close to me. We have a very open honest relationships and are able to talk about things most kids would die talking to their parents about. I think that is a big reason why I believe honesty is the way to go. Why lie when it can just get you in to a deeper hole than the truth would have?