Per usual, the seniors ranked first for Homecoming spirit followed by the juniors, sophomores and freshmen, but few at George Mason High School are aware of how the spirit points are attributed. Some even believe that the system grants an unfair advantage to the seniors.
??There??s no setup in the way we count that would give seniors an advantage,?? said Emma Graig who chaired the Spirit Week and Pep Rally Committee for the student council in 2013.
In fact, Mr. Peter Laub, the SCA sponsor, is responsible for the counting of points during Spirit Week until the Pep Rally when the members of the SCA take over.
During Spirit Week, the grades participate in a variety of competitions. Each competition rewards points. The Powder Puff and Volleyboys games both give twenty spirit points to the winners but none to the losers.
Dressing up and hall decorating are more generous, however. The best hall reaps twenty points, the second best earns fifteen points, the third best earns ten points, and the fourth earns five points.
As for hall decorating, the nominal number of students in each grade are added up each day. The grades are then ranked from one to four. Points are awarded each day of the week in the same manner as for Spirit Week: twenty points for first place, fifteen for second place, ten for third place and five for fourth place.
Finally, the points were converted to dots in anticipation of the pep rally. One dot did not match up to a whole number of spirit points, but the proportions were kept. Once the Pep Rally started, each game awarded four dots for first place, three for second place, two for third place and one for fourth place. As a consequence of a change in the scale, more weight was given to games at the Pep Rally.
Some students also contended that male cheerleading earned points. This rumor had some foundation but was proven wrong as senior, Brent Clarke who was in charge of counting the points this year said, ??We were thinking about adding them, but we didn??t.?? He explained that he did not find a practical way to evaluate the male cheerleaders?? performances.
So, for students who believe that spirit points are ??rigged?? or that seniors are given an advantage, the SCA does their best to appoint points as fairly as possible, throughout the competitions of spirit week.
