Selma High School’s annual spirit week took place a little differently this year, spanning from September 14th to September 18th: online. 

“Virtual Week,” as it was called, consisted of dress up days, social media activities and a car parade donation collection to mark the end. As the students wanted to keep the tradition alive, it provided a good way to keep spirits high and celebrate online bear learning amidst the worldwide pandemic. 

“Our leadership team worked really well together to try and make this week fun for everyone,” stated senior class president Ashneet Gill. “It’s difficult to plan events for the school and us seniors during these tough times, but we’ve gotten so much support from our peers that it makes it a lot easier to have high hopes for the future.”

The age-old tradition of spirit week has been expressed through years of originality amongst the students. This year, the dress up days and activities were even more creative, as the amount of participation in “Mask Monday” and “Pajama Day” were overwhelming. 

“I feel like it was a really good way to bring light-hearted fun to such uncertain times, especially with the constant forest fires and the virus,” shares freshman Emily Pallesi. “Knowing that this was the standard for the first of online events and activities and how they’ll only get better from here is exciting, especially without the amount of creativity within my peers.”

The “car parade,” to conclude virtual week, was also a big accomplishment for Selma High and their ceremony, as they were able to give back to their community in the process. The leadership team plastered decorations all throughout the student parking lot. Participants were able to safely gather to collect water, materials, and money donations to donate to front-line workers in the battle against the consistent forest fires. As a whole, they were able to donate a great amount of resources and nourishments with an unexpected turnout. 

“It personally felt really good on my soul,” stated A.J. Montijo, a senior who participated in the car parade to donate several bottled waters and baby wipes. “I’ve really been wanting to help out, and this virtual event gave me exactly the reason to.” 

Junior Joshua Ramirez also attended the car parade, to donate leftover materials he had lying around.

 “Giving back to the community and putting use to items that were just lying around felt good,” Ramirez stated. “I hope future events like this are more to come.” 

In the end, although Selma High’s spirit week didn’t end up as originally planned, many could say it resulted even better.