As students get set to take off on another school year at Kaneland, a lot of emphasis is being put towards the need of school spirit. To some people, school spirit means showing up at football games and chanting, “GO KNIGHTS GO!” What may not be realized is that school spirit is what bonds the students, faculty and community together as one.

 “There are two sides to school spirit. One is showing up for events outside of school, and two is the overall atmosphere of the school on an everyday basis,” the new Vice Principal Mike Rice said.

 With school spirit set as a top priority, many changes are being made to help school spirit on the rise.

 Even before the school year got started, the Kaneland Community came together in a parade during Elburn Days to express school spirit through the Kindness Campaign. This campaign consisted of around 80 people and also groups such as the Gay Straight Alliance and anti-bullying groups. Being involved within the parade helped express school spirit throughout the community so everyone could witness what it means to be a Kaneland Knight. Banners were seen throughout the parade stating, “We are Kaneland, couldn’t be prouder.”

 “The reason behind the banners is to help show people that long term success through school and life is achieved with genuine pride of yourself and the people around you,” Rice said.

To help boost school spirit, the parade made District 302 more visible to the public eye. This was shown by the groups of people, which includes staff from Harter Middle School, Kaneland High School, McDole Elementary School and the appearance of Superintendant Dr. Jeff Schuler and his family.

Kaneland High School displayed its emphasis towards school spirit with an assembly to close the first day of school.

 “We had the assembly because we wanted to unite the school as one by giving students more opportunities to do stuff together,” new Principal Jill Maras said.

 Getting students more involved is a year long goal as the school year progresses. Being a part of a team or group outside of school is very important, as it can help create friendships and can help people grow.

“Just like any relationship, the more time we put into it, the more time we’ll get out of it. Our desire is that all students have a strong relationship with Kaneland High School, and we will achieve that by spending more time together invested in this relationship. For some, this will show in their involvement in athletics, clubs and activities. For others, this will show in their classroom involvement and interactions with their peers. We all can be involved by supporting each other in our attendance at events, conversations in the halls and celebrations individually,” Maras said.

 As well as faculty, students believe that being involved is important when going through high school.

 “Being a part of the music, theater and athletics open my eyes to many different people and personalities at Kaneland. I have friends in different grades from all of those categories,” junior Emily Grams said.

 Grams isn’t the only student that believes getting involved is a positive.

 “The heart and dedication that all athletes give and bring to their team is phenomenal. Being able to compete at the high level we do every day as a team is something special. I love facing competition and the life lessons you learn through each year,” junior Austin Wheatley said.

 The assembly displayed the same banners that were in the parade, emphasizing the pride in being a Knight and having respect towards others. Taking pride in being a Knight and having respect run together in achieving school spirit. Being able to respect others is an important trait to have in order to accept others and treat people how you want to be treated.

 “If you yourself can be open minded, friendly and willing to step outside of what you’re comfortable with and just be confident and respectful of your actions, it can create friendships that could be beneficial to your time at high school,” Grams said.

 Being able to respect yourself and others is a life lesson that can be used outside of high school too.

“Respect is an important part of life. I think that to get respect you first have to give it, so being respectful of other people in life is a good quality to develop early on. Pride is a separate issue in my mind. I think being proud of who you are and where you come from helps you have the confidence to accomplish difficult things in your life. There’s also a sense of community that can come from a group of people all taking pride in the same thing, such as being a Kaneland Knight. Of course, you always have to make sure that your pride doesn’t get in the way of your ability to show respect,” Rice said.

 One place where school spirit is highly expressed are Friday nights during varsity football games where the support by rowdies has been extremely noticed.

 “The amount of rowdies depends on the year and how spirited the seniors are. I think we have the best fans in the state for football, I wish they could all travel to away games with us,” senior football player Gary Koehring said.

 It’s also been noticed that the amount of support from the rowdies for other sports has declined in recent years.

“For the other sports, I think the support could be better because those teams work hard too and deserve to be rewarded. The amount of rowdies for the other sports has dropped which is disappointing,” Koehring said.

 School spirit can also be expressed in other ways outside of school. Participating in fundraisers or simply just wearing Kaneland colors are easy ways to display school spirit. It can be as simple as saying positive things about the school. Staying positive about the school can help someone stay a positive person in general. Sometimes people don’t realize that one person can really make a difference. One person can affect the atmosphere of an entire room. It can be related to the “Pay It Forward” effect. People feed off positive energy, whether it’s in school or in the community.

 “As long as I show a good attitude and give off positive energy by supporting my school, then I can only hope it rubs off on my classmates. Hopefully they will start doing the same because being positive and respectful to others makes you a more rounded and likeable person to be around,” Grams said.

School spirit doesn’t just take place on a single day. In fact, people express school spirit wherever they are because every student represents Kaneland and the pride in being a Knight.

“I know that no matter where I am or what I’m doing, I represent the school not only as a student but as an athlete. I’m very proud to be a Kaneland Knight and I take pride in how I present myself,” Limbrunner said.

 Even though there are people who do not embrace school spirit, many people do.

 “All the different realms of Kaneland do pretty amazing things and I’m lucky enough to witness them before my eyes. Every new and big event, good or upsetting, gives me that reality check that I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” Grams said.

 A change may be coming to Kaneland, a change that affects not only the overall atmosphere of the school, but the entire community.

 The support is here from the students, faculty, and community. The real question is whether or not each person is ready to take his or her place and embrace school spirit and be part of a long lasting community of acceptance and respect.