On December 6, the Boston Latin School Fashion Talent Club (FTC) announced the winners of their School Spirit Competition, where participants recorded TikTok-style videos of themselves showcasing their BLS apparel and merchandise.

Janice Rodriguez (I), a co-president of FTC, explains how the competition came to be, stating, “Nitz-fa (co-president of FTC) received from Ms. Rose Delorme-Metayer a TikTok showing someone dressing up for homecoming. Obviously, we are not like every other high school that has homecoming dances, but we have the tradition of the Pep Rally […] a lot of people dress up and look forward to[…] We wanted to incorporate that idea of using TikTok and people passing along school spirit in one video.”

The FTC held the competition to allow members of the BLS community to show off their school spirit despite the lack of an in-person Pep Rally Day.

Classics teacher Ms. Catherine Foley explains, “I bleed purple, and Spirit Day is one of my favorite days of the year. As a senior, my superlative was ‘most school spirited,’ but I love Spirit Day because it is so amazing to see the energy and talent of the student body — Step Squad, cheer, the band, the athletes, the students! Most of the time, we focus a lot of our energy on academics, but it is really amazing to see what our community can accomplish when we come together and let positivity and support wave over us.”

There were 16 submissions for this year’s competition, including Step Squad’s group submission and a TikTok dance duet. The FTC initially released a Google Form for voting on their Instagram page, but later posted it on the Daily Bulletin for more publicity. Afterward, they counted the votes, which totaled over 100, and posted the results on social media. The winners of the competition were Ms. Foley, the BLS Step Squad and the duo, Ramatoulaye Bah (IV) and Jolie Bellerand (IV).

Normally, BLS Pep Rallies include highlighting football team athletes and showcasing performances from the cheerleading team and Step Squad in a celebration of school spirit. In fact, it would usually be the most important time of the year for Step Squad, according to co-captains Patty Huang (II) and Julia Jean-Baptiste (I).

Huang states, “This competition was a substitution as to what we could’ve had at [the] rally this year. And so, it depicted students with their school spirit and what we would’ve worn on Rally Day, hence our purple jackets and leggings.”

Jean-Baptiste adds, “The school spirit competition seemed like a great opportunity for all of us to coordinate and do something fun together while we’re apart, and the whole point of Step Squad is to promote school spirit and Wolfpack pride so we had to join in.”

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has brought disappointment to everyone who looked forward to the Pep Rally and other traditional events, the School Spirit Competition has allowed for the BLS community to show their school’s strength and pride in other creative ways.

Spirit Competition Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYSBbG90_QQ&feature=youtu.be