February 18, 2015
Varsity Brands Launches New School Spirit Initiatives
Varsity Brands has announced the search for America’s Most Spirited High School, a nationwide initiative that will end on National School Spirit Day on September 25, 2015, with one school winning a $25,000 grant. National Association of Secondary Principals Conference is taking place in San Diego, California, and is expecting more than 1,500 high school principals and assistant principals.
National School Spirit Day was first founded in 2009 by Varsity Spirit as a way to shine a spotlight on all the ways cheerleaders and dancers make a difference in their schools and communities. In the six years since its launch, cheerleaders and dancers pledged more than 550,000 community service hours, and in 2014, National School Spirit Day was recognized in the Congressional Record by Representative Alan Grayson of Florida.
Varsity Spirit merged with Herff Jones and BSN Sports, two other leaders in the academic achievement and sports fields, to become Varsity Brands in 2014. One of the first collaborations of the new company was to commission a white paper, which quantified the link between school spirit, involvement, achievement and self-confidence. According to the research, 92% of principals agree that high school spirit is tied to high academic achievement, and 90% of students with high school spirit are more likely to be leaders.
This year, all three brands will promote the search for America’s Most Spirited High School, which will be announced on September 25. The “Spirit Matters” video challenge requires entrants to submit a video no longer than 1:30 demonstrating why their school has the most school spirit in America along with a 500-word essay explaining the “Spirit Story of Your School.” Entrants are encouraged to create a #SpiritMatters Council and to include footage from events such as graduation, class ring presentations, pep rallies, games, proms – anywhere school spirit was on display.
The deadline for entries is September 8, 2015. Four finalists will be posted on Monday, September 14, and will continue until September 24th.