For every floatie you see on the arm of a senior on this campus, you see one more student taking part in something bigger than just a game. No, not the Illuminati or some rebel group, but something critical to every high school: a spirited student body.

Judging by the amount of floaties and squirt guns that can be seen around town, it’s not much of a secret that a large portion of our senior class is playing this Senior Assassins game. While I’m not going to get into the specifics of the game, I will say that nothing has brought the senior class together quite like this game. Not football, not homecoming, not pep rallies, but a student-organized game has brought out the most involvement from the senior class as a whole.

This game is a step in the right direction for a school that could use a little improvement when it comes to school spirit. If I’ve noticed anything throughout high school, it’s that school spirit starts from the top. It starts with the seniors and trickles down to the juniors and underclassmen. I’ve yet to hear of a school with a spirited sophomore class, without having a hugely spirited senior class.

If seniors want to see a spirit-filled school, they need to lead the charge and activities that brings the class together (such as senior assassins). Kids who normally would never socialize together are now united in the common goal of spraying a target with a squirt gun. The closer of a community we build at Carlsbad, the more pride we will all take in our school.

There’s usually the loyal loud crowd members, who you can count on showing up to nearly every game; however, in order for the spirit to become contagious, the stands need to be packed. ASB has done a good job planning events, but school-wide spirit has definitely declined from last year to this one. Part of this can be attributed to the Class of 2014’s infectious spirit leaving our school, but our class should be filling its shoes. Some seniors have stepped up their spirit, but the decline in student attendance to most major sporting events cannot go unnoticed.

Some of the best high school memories are made during silent basketball games, the Lancer Day Parade and exciting football games. The more students that are there unified in supporting our school, the more fun and memorable these events become. Those who complain about lack of school spirit need to be the change that they wish to see within our school. Whether that change comes in the form of a Dollar Tree floatie, or successful Tacky Tourist Day, doesn’t matter. Both are steps in the right direction, and seniors need to be the ones leading the way.