Selma High has a sort of tradition of dress-up days, as do many other schools, which they tailor to certain causes. The most recent activity week, and the first of the school year, was “Attendance Awareness Month.”
Annually, the country’s schools use September to encourage students to attend classes and California has been a supporter of the push, the goal being to decrease the rate of absenteeism among students. Aligned with this movement, Selma High contributed through its dress-up days, during which students were able to wear clothes along the lines of certain daily themes, which are usually set forth by either school administrators or student leaders.
On Monday, September 9, students were encouraged to wear travel apparel, with the idea they would be on time to all their classes. Called “Motivated Monday,” the day was thoroughly enjoyed by students and faculty alike.
“Superhero Tuesday” allowed students to wear superhero shirts to school, with the exception of masks and costumes. Regardless, this day was one of the most appealing to students and was greatly anticipated.
“I thought it was fun to wear something a little more kid-ish without judgment,” said Jackie Aguilera, a senior.
Wednesday was “Sports Day,” which allowed students to wear jerseys of their favorite teams, spanning any sports league they wish. Some even wore school athletic uniforms and baseball caps to celebrate.
“My favorite dress up day out of this week,” said Donovan Contreras, a senior who wore a San Francisco 49ers jersey, “was sports day, because it was good to see students who might not normally dress up go out of their way to follow the theme.” In fact, this was a noteworthy observation.
Due to the sheer popularity of sporting events, many students have access to jerseys and are able to participate, which is why it is typically a dress up day which sees increased student support. For those who wore Selma memorabilia, like sports caps or athletic jerseys, it also showcased school pride and spirit.
“Thrive Through Thursday” was another popular dress up day, celebrating Attendance Awareness Week at Selma High. It encouraged students to don college merchandise, which many took to mean to wear clothes representative of the school they plan to matriculate to. Dress up days which follow this theme are usually well received among students as well.
“My favorite dress up day last week,” said Brayden Brumm, a senior, “was the college wear because I like seeing all the colleges people are interested in.” This proved to be a stark contrast to his favorite last year.
“I liked the dress up day last year,” he continued, “when I got to dress up as Kurt Cobain because that was really funny.”
Culminating the week was “Friday’s Full Attendance Pride,” during which students were urged to show Selma High spirit through donning school memorabilia, such as caps, shirts, jackets and more.
Although this week was greatly enjoyed by students, they also had proposals to return to the popular dress up days of last year.
“In the future,” Aguilera continued, “I hope to see more holiday related dress up days.” Somewhat relatedly, pajama days prove to be one of the most well regarded by students.
“The dress up day I liked the best throughout my time at Selma,” she added, “would be pajama day, because I didn’t really have to think about what I’d be wearing to school.” This perspective was evidently shared by many others as well.
“In the future,” Contreras added, “I definitely want to see more pajama days. Getting to be cozy during class is always great!”
While Contreras also reportedly enjoyed last year’s “Dress As Your Type,” because of the silly outfits, including wigs, others like Aguilera would suggest a return to holiday themed days.
The administration and appropriate leadership groups will continue to implement such dress up days throughout the school year for different reasons, and students are encouraged to participate, especially seniors who will be preparing for graduation to begin their lives as adults
