Jersey Mike’s, Subway, Starbucks and McDonald’s: all establishments students love to indulge at. When the school offers the chance to win a gift card to one of these delicious places, students pay attention. In the past, classes, hallways and grades have been awarded for school participation, but this Spirit Week the school took a different target – the individual.

The idea that Lake Central students as a whole do not have an overwhelming sense of school spirit is not shocking news. For whatever reason, it seems like students are reluctant to proudly proclaim, “I AM AN LC INDIAN.”

To combat this lack of spirit, the school has taken steps to increase student excitement and participation. Each day students were named and awarded a gift card for their participation in Spirit Week.

While the increase in effort to get students motivated and the increase in student participation are both a nice change of pace for Lake Central, it comes with some disadvantages. The focus of Spirit Week has diverted from supporting the Boys Basketball team who has worked hard all season to get to Sectionals, and instead has gone towards the possibility of getting your next meal at McDonald’s paid for.

In the end, school spirit should be about the passion and desire to support the teams and students. Apparently, whatever the school can do to make that happen is the route they are going to take, even if it’s exchanging pride for a bribe.