With many school events happening ranging from the fall festival to even free events like karaoke night, we’ve seen an appalling decrease in student attendance. For the past 3 years, each school dance has either been canceled or barely sold out. When students hear about a school dance, it’s supposed to get them to jump with joy; rushing eagerly to get tickets. But for some reason, Richmond Hill struggles to get students to even look at the flyer. How can we get students engaged when our walls are as bare bones as the dance floor? 

High school should be filled with excitement and adrenaline. Schools should be decorated with school spirit and student life, showing that students can come together and have fun. But over the years, Richmond Hill has continuously lacked just that. Students are simply not excited to come to school, let alone stay after school. Yes, the school has undergone renovations, the repainting of the walls, becoming an early college school, the new door decorations on the gym  and auditorium, but the school have become unaware to the importance of school activities and events.Currently, we are not allowed to hang up event flyers around the school because the administration is afraid of ruining the new paint. With the cell phone ban, students don’t automatically get notified about the announcements posted on Google classroom regarding the upcoming events and most of them do not pay attention to the announcements.Students are either completely oblivious or simply disinterested in our announcements. Hanging up flyers on the school walls play a crucial part now more than ever. 

On November 7th I posted a student interest survey on the Class of 2026 google classroom and only received eight responses out of 428 students. Eight. The students are not motivated to participate in even a google form. There is a disheartening disconnect between students and school culture. Because of the lack of communication between students and school organizations, many stale events no longer appeal to the variety of students. Students deem these events as “boring” or “the same thing every year.” But without their input, how will we know what to change? Well, if the students see big flyers hanging on the walls regarding school events, it’d be hard to miss and eventually they’d read it. Some students might even give suggestions on what they’d like to see at that event. 

As a senior in RHHS, I remember the excitement students felt when they saw the Halloween dance flyer taped up on the third floor. Everyone crowded around it, asking their friends if they were going. It was a conversation starter. You saw students pulling and tugging at their friends, begging them to go. The school spirit used to overfill the school hallways, now those same hallways ache for student cheer and joy. The silent mustard yellow walls surround the school with no school spirit to grasp. As a leadership student, it’s frustrating. We want students to engage with the school, we want their input. There was a time where we were allowed to decorate the hallways for the holidays. Our walls spoke highly of its students. Now they’ve been silenced and all of that history has been painted over. Now our walls are used for mission statements that make the school seem picture perfect and superintendent ready. But these mission statements do not describe us. Richmond Hill is about diversity. Our students are authentic, quirky, and unique in their own ways but the school no longer reflects that.  

Without posters on the walls, there is no visual excitement; nothing to stimulate the students. School spirit isn’t only about how the school looks or about a school mascot, it’s about how the students embrace their school. Social media can be useful, but not everyone follows Richmond Hill high school’s Instagram. It’s hard to get students to follow it, especially when they’re uninterested. Even if they do see it on Social Media, they tend to forget by the next morning. 

So how do we bring back student excitement? First, we can use the TVs around the schools to broadcast upcoming events and school social media pages. The school can collaborate with different clubs and organizations such as SAYA, The Wellness Center, and even Lions TV. Leadership can create a bucket that would be hung outside room 112 where students can write their feedback on events or they can even suggest new ideas. 

The school can also find alternatives to hang flyers without damaging the paint such as adhesive strips (command strips), and even removable putty. We could also reuse events that have worked in the past such as Trick or Treat, an event focused on sending either a trick (a fake eyeball or spider) or a treat (candy) to a friend in celebration of Halloween. We enjoy inspiration from other schools to start new events. We could have the school mascot, Simba, at the entrance of the school interacting with the students and getting them excited about the school day. For special occasions, like spirit week, we could have Simba dress up for that particular day.

High school is a place where we should be able to build a community. It’s a place where students come to be themselves, so we should embrace that. If we came together and let the students have a chance to take ownership of school culture then it’ll make Richmond Hill High School a more enjoyable place. Our school is undoubtedly growing into a better environment; it’s about time our community grew along with it.