By Janvi Acharya
The first week of October marked Spirit Week and was filled with themes and engaging activities for NHP. The week allowed students and staff to show their Gladiator spirit by following the themes and participating in school events, such as pep rally and Homecoming.
"In preparing for Homecoming week as a senior class adviser, I had to make sure that the Seniors were aware of the colors they had to wear every day of the week," class of 2023 adviser Ms. Pincay said. "We designed a Homecoming T-shirt, which was a huge success because everyone liked it and lots of people bought it. Overall, as a senior class, we showed a lot of school spirit."
The varsity cheerleaders kicked off the week on Monday morning with a performance in front of the school, welcoming everyone. The theme was “Gladiators Shine Bright,” where students and staff were encouraged to dress up in their finest neon clothes. The following day, the Step Team performed before school, and NHP wore pink in honor of breast cancer awareness to “Step Up For A Cure.” After the day off, the Romanettes performed and gladiators participated in "White Out" day. After school, students started work on their class banners for the highly anticipated Homecoming parade.
“I showed school spirit by wearing the colors of each theme. I did follow each day. It was easy to follow the themes since the colors were in my closet,” sophomore Katelyn Vadakkan said.
“I liked the pink theme because it’s my favorite color. The themes were mostly easy to follow,” sophomore Serina John said.
Source by Kristen Schneider
Class of 2023 adviser Ms. Pincay and her class pose for "Gladiators Shine Bright."
At pep rally, the cheerleaders, Romanettes, Twirlers and Step Team gave high-energy performances and hyped up the crowd for Homecoming. Students and staff entered NHP in school colors or athletic uniforms and were greeted by the Twirlers. After classes ended, the “Star-Spangled Banner,” played by the band, kicked off the pep rally. Students gathered at the track, teams finished their performances and fall sports teams were acknowledged.
“Spirit Week was kind of crunch time for us; we had practice a lot and we were fine-tuning everything to put on the best performance we could. Welcoming the students before school on Friday was also pretty nice. The performance itself was really fun, I liked the setup of everything and it went really smoothly,” senior Simrit Kaur said.
“I was so excited to perform for the pep rally! The energy of the school is what I look forward to the most, and we really get to show everyone how hard we work,” junior Olivia Tomalska said. “Although it was kind of stressful having to know two different routines at the same time and having to perform them a day apart, it really pushed us and made us better as dancers and as a team overall. The timing of having both performances in the same week was super cool, and it made spirit week even more fun and exciting!”
The Pink Mile, an event where students walked to raise funds for the American Cancer Society, took place on Tuesday of Spirit Week. Gladiators sported pink shoelaces, and due to weather conditions, walked through the NHP hallways to raise awareness for breast cancer. The first 180 walkers to complete the mile received pink-frosted donuts donated by Duck Donuts in Garden City Park.
"It was a very fun event. I enjoyed being able to walk around with my friends and the volleyball team. I wish we could have gone outside for the Pink Mile but nonetheless, it was awesome," senior Luke Jacob said.
Source by Kristen Schneider
Students walk as one during the Pink Mile as they raise awareness and money during Pink October.
On Saturday, the NHP football team competed against Herricks High School in their Homecoming game and won 48-14. The Homecoming court, as well as students from each grade, marched in the parade prior to the game. Many demonstrated their school spirit by repping NHP gear. At halftime, the Royal Gladiators, Izhaan Ahmed and Brenda Bolouvi, were announced.
“I think Spirit Week is a great opportunity for students to express themselves and participate in school events,” sophomore Anelyse Lopez said.