GA/PC week was a flurry of events for both students and faculty at Germantown Academy. From spirit week to rivalry with Penn Charter, Germantown Academy continues to uphold its traditions even during a global pandemic. Spirit week is an annual tradition that leads up to GA/PC day. Mr. Moll, Washington House Head, comments, “It is a week filled with a variety of spirit wear days, hall decorating, honoring the seniors with the annual senior strut, and then gathering in the big gym with all three divisions, Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School for a pep rally… It is a wonderful community event for GA.” During spirit week, students dress in different themes on specific days. “It’s designed to create energy and excitement for GA/PC day so that we can have the best day possible,” Natalie Schildt, a house prefect, says. “There are themes for each day of the week, and students dress up every day in fun outfits to fit each theme.”
Planning spirit week was not an easy task because of the hybrid schedules. House prefects were unsure of how they could plan a spirit week when only half of the upper school could attend each day, along with concerns surrounding student enthusiasm. “I’d say the biggest issue is that we weren’t sure if people would really enjoy the week because they’re home half the time, and also because there was no actual GA/PC day that we were leading up to,” Natalie Schildt explains. Mr. Moll explains, “There were a multitude of restrictions due to Covid. Fortunately, the senior leaders were able to put a plan in place for spirit week.”
While planning spirit week proved difficult, it ended up receiving positive reactions from many students. “I thought it was a good way to bring the Upper School together even when we all aren’t in person together,” Isabelle Lieu ‘24, comments. Ellee Segal ‘23, agrees, “I love spirit week because it’s a good way to get everyone in the community hyped up for the big games in a fun engaging way.” Spirit week received little to no criticism besides the fact that students would like to see more of their peers participate. The themes this year were “why is this in my closet?”, dress your age day, and color day. Some students decided to take advantage of the tradition to dress in comfy clothes rather than fully embracing the theme that was assigned to them. Maddalena Donches ‘24, comments. “I like it, but I think some people choose to ignore it and just dress down which brings down the mood and makes it less exciting.”
In contrast, many students decided to go all out with their themes, dressing in tutus, jeans over leggings, crazy wigs, etc. The week was the perfect time for creative ideas and crazy outfits. “Spirit week is exciting and it’s fun to see what outfits people come up with,” Josie Munson ’23, says. Overall, students and faculty were pleased that this tradition was carried out this year. Spirit week was the perfect time to bring the community back together after months of isolation, and Germantown Academy is looking forward to next year when the tradition is celebrated once again.