On May 12, Carlsbad High School won the award for the most spirited school in the nation. Videos and photos were submitted to showcase the school spirit and pride that ASB has encouraged onto CHS students. Along with the recognition as the most spirited school, ASB nominated the most spirited teacher and administrator for supporting our students.
Our school gained their momentum by winning initial awards, such as Battle of the Fans this year, from local competition. Therefore, ASB decided to enter the national competition which is the varsity brands.
“The competition about the varsity brands, the high school spirit award, they do every year,” Mr. Riccitelli said. “I have seen a couple years ago and I thought this is a good idea for us and built towards it. So we started to have some success locally, in terms of winning the Battle of the Fans and SoCal sidelines and stuff. We talked about that as a class… and we pick some categories, and decide to pursue those, and obviously it turn out very well for us.”
Along with the awards given to the high school as a whole, there have been awards given to teachers that reciprocate the spirit of the students. Mr. Muillenburg was named the Most Spirited Teacher in the Nation which was a result of the student body nominating him.
“Well, I think that anyone has been in his class or has come into contact with him,” Mr. Riccitelli said. “It’s obvious. For those who haven’t, you can see him around school and comes to everything, and supports the students, and everything. But then, he also goes above and beyond in terms of leads the Loud Crowd. He dressed up in a penguin costume and leads the Loud Crowd in a chicken dance. This year, he dresses in a T-Rex costume and they come up with a Lion King theme. We have a lot of spirited teachers in this campus. But he goes to that next level.”
Since everyone was aware that our school won the most spirited school in the nation, Mrs. Redfield was nominated the best spirited administrator for attending our school events and supported our school. She is the one of the administrator that students felt supportive during any games.
“She was nominated ultimately, because she’s just an interim principal, and hasn’t done it quite as long as other people who had being nominated,” Mr. Riccitelli said. “But, the students just felt that she took on the job, really. During that time, there was no one else, and she took it on, and she led our school fantastically during that interim period. Again, she’s one of the students felt very supportive by her. She has their back and at their activities and supports them. They kind of repaid it by saying we value and respect what you do.”
The obstacles that our school has to face are the students who are uninvolved in any school events, and ASB managed to overcome these difficulties, which is why Carlsbad was recognized as the most spirited school throughout the nation. For example, CHS won because students are spirited by attending homecoming game to support our team.
“Honestly, I think in a lot of ways,” Mr. Riccitelli said. “Naturally, our kids are extremely spirited. I think the difficulties take a lot of time. Football games are long days… There is a lot of stuff going and it’s so much fun and rewarding to watch the kids get excited and involved. I think every year our involvement is growing. So I think the difficulties are how are we continue to grow and how we get those kids involved… that aren’t involved into the school part… I think that’s the challenge not just for us. But for every school…That’s one of the things for our ASB and talk to ASB everyday about how we get other kids in groups involve…”
As our school won for the most spirited school, CHS gained a positive reputation in San Diego County and received comments from celebrities. Therefore, lancers as a whole become recognized by the whole community.
“…I think the things are somewhat validating into obviously the awards are validating…,” said Mr. Riccitelli. “Local celebrities actually sent out tweets and make comments in radio shows about how incredible our atmosphere at Carlsbad High School. I also think it’s that incredible validating when I got phone calls from… our local schools in around the North Country and actually in San Diego calling me…we’re wanting to have our school, our student section better…I think it’s pretty neat to see and I think it’s a testament to our whole school community.”
