For Tamalpais High School students, the week of Sept. 27 was by far the most exciting week this school year. From riveting rallies to an intense rivalry football game Saturday afternoon, students got to experience a homecoming week filled with more school spirit than we’ve seen in years, and the Tam community benefited greatly from the influx of school spirit and unity.

Tam Leadership put together a full week of spirit days, and participation spanned throughout all grade levels. Monday was pajama day, and students dressed in their best sleepwear. Tuesday was Western day and many students dressed in flannels, Western-style hats, and boots. Wednesday was jersey day, and included Football Fest during lunch and the freshman/sophomore rally during tutorial, giving Tam’s newest students a taste of school spirit.  Thursday was decades day, where each grade was given a different decade of fashion to dress in. Sophomore Grayson Kolodziejski wore a full 80’s tracksuit, carrying his grade in their spirit for the day. “[Homecoming week] was super fun, and it was so cool to get to dress up,” Kolodziejski said. The week ended with a Tam Spirit Day and the junior/senior rally. Friday’s spirit participation blew the rest of the week out of the water. Many students sported face paint, Tam merch, and many accessories displaying Tam’s colors. 

The two rallies were the first Tam had hosted since March 2020, and grade levels were split into two groups in order to reduce contact. During both rallies, sophomores, juniors, and seniors competed in the lip sync battle. In true freshman fashion, they were not prepared for the performance and could not participate. In the first rally, Sophomores won by a landslide but during the second rally the seniors finished in 1st place. The event ended with the annual class cheer competition, in which the sophomores and seniors emerged victorious in their respective rallies. As fun and engaging as the whole of homecoming week was, it would be straight-up wrong to say any other part of the week was quite as exciting as the sports games that finished off the week. On Friday night, students filled Gus Gym to support the girl’s varsity volleyball team in their game against Redwood High School. After 4 sets, the Hawks fell short of the victory. On Saturday afternoon, the rivalry football game against Redwood commenced. The Hawks were down at halftime but pulled ahead in the fourth quarter for a thrilling victory. When the final whistle blew, the student section flooded onto the field to celebrate the win. “It was crazy and so exciting. I felt like I had just won the game,” sophomore Stella Lowery said. The football team’s win ended the week off on a high note. 

Many students expressed that this spirit week was the best they’d seen in their time at Tam. Having so much participation shows a sense of unity and connection at our school that was missing last year because of the pandemic. For their first spirit week as high schoolers, the freshman and sophomore classes got to experience rivalry, community, and pride that will last through the remainder of the school year thanks to the hard work of Tam Leadership in organizing events like this.