Northview Nation: Surge of school spirit

The collective Northview Nation is working to increase the school spirit

Photos by Milly Miao, Managing/Multimedia Editor; Banee Chadha, Photography/Social Media Editor

Anya Biswas, Features Editor; Hritvi Ahuja, Staff Writer; & Everett Baumann, Staff Writer

This year, teachers and students are coming together with a shared mission, to reignite the sense of community at Northview. The goal of “Northview Nation” is to encourage all Northview students to participate in school spirit activities. Due to COVID-19, students were not able to enjoy in-person school events which resulted in the school spirit decreasing. Football games had less excitement and school plays had smaller audiences. Teachers and students came together as a collective to change that this year by creating Northview Nation.

“High school is four unique years where you can participate in a lot of different activities and expand your scope. That can help you in your future,” Megan Hart, a teacher involved in Northview Nation, said.

Northview Nation encourages students to support each other in activities such as sports, theater, fine arts, and other school extracurriculars. One year, a football quarterback was the head of the school play, causing many athletes to come and support the play. Teachers then truly felt that the two different sections were combining.

“Northview Nation is a community, a family, that takes pride in the school,” Kevin McCall, an administrator involved in Northview Nation, said. “We want to see the point where the football players are supporting the school play and vice versa.”

In order to achieve this goal, Northview Nation has organized several events, aimed at increasing school spirit. In the first month of school, each week the class councils of the respective grade led dress-up days, ranging from “Barbie vs. Oppenheimer” to “Pajama Day.” These dress-up days were posted on Northview Nation’s Instagram account and several students were featured on its story. Several involved members of Northview Nation came together to make a “Class of 2024” flag, and all seniors were invited to paint their handprints and sign the flag after school. This flag can now be used at football games or pep rallies as a way to leave behind a legacy and show the senior class spirit.

“I definitely feel like everybody is more involved. The school is becoming more interesting, getting everybody to show up to things, and having exciting things for people to do like the dress up days or the pep rally,” Katherine Marshall, a senior involved in Northview Nation, said.

There are already noticeable impacts. There are more people showing up to the tailgates compared to previous years. Students are taking the opportunity to cheer on their fellow classmates.

“I have seen a change in the school spirit at volleyball games. Students create their own cheers and hype us up, which makes us feel more motivated to do well,” Ana Cabrera, a junior on the varsity volleyball team said.

Northview Nation has already taken action to improve the student section at sports games, but this is not their only focus. A misconception students have is that Northview Nation only supports sports. However, the involved members of Northview Nation have clarified that they are there to support the entire student body which includes the wide variety of activities students participate in. The purpose is to get students to go to the school play, band/orchestra/chorus concerts, and clubs as well.

“We are definitely trying to get into all the aspects of school in order to bring that school spirit to everything,” Marshall said.

Northview Nation will be supporting the fine arts and performing arts events that occur later in the year, such as performances by the band, orchestra, and chorus. When the theater puts on a play, Northview Nation will support them by advertising the shows on their Instagram. Already, Northview Nation has posted a variety of non-sporting events on social media. For example, it has posted the National Chinese Honor Society art competition, the Wax Museum performances by the advanced theater classes, and the set up of 9/11 flags by the Student Council.

“We're trying to reach out to broader groups of people and get people who don't usually come to the games to come to games,” Tiffany Kim, an active Northview Nation senior, said. “People don't usually come to the concerts to come to the concert.”

When Northview was established in 2002, the first principal, Peter Zervakos, held parades with decorated floats during the homecoming week that made the spirit exciting and engaging for all the students. There were auctions and raffles that interested both students and parents. For example, parents donated cars from their dealerships at football games which spiked the interest in going to games and supporting the school. Radio stations like V-103 pitched in and broadcasted the pregames and tailgates which had over 500 students and parents per game. Northview Nation is inspired by the past and wants to implement school spirit ideas from those earlier years.

“I'm actually excited about seeing Northview Nation, it is almost like a rebirth of the past,” Robert Hunter, assistant principal of Northview said.

During Northview Nation’s kick-off in the first month of school, they faced a few challenges. One of the biggest obstacles is spreading the word about Northview Nation and getting students to actively participate in events.

“We have a lot of room to grow,” Northview’s principal Martin Neuhaus said. “Right now, it’s kind of evolving. But the idea behind Northview Nation is that we are all part of it.”

With the federal COVID-19 public health emergency coming to an end this past summer, school officials believe there is no better time to pique the school’s interest and rebuild school spirit. Northview Nation is offering giveaways for students who follow @Northview.Nation on Instagram. Prizes include Northview T-shirts and water bottles. In the future, they hope to give out limited edition Northview Nation T-shirts. By the end of the year, Northview Nation hopes to grow enough in order to serve the school and community next year, and many years after that.

“We want it to be one big community bringing Northview together, making everything more fun,” junior Erik Woods, a Northview Nation contributor, said.