Bluejay Fridays are becoming the new school spirit tradition at LHS. With the opportunity to win cool prizes and show pride in our school, Bluejay Fridays have helped students step up to their “A” game in showing their Bluejay pride.
“Bluejay Fridays is basically something we came up with in Leadership Class,” senior Taylor McGrath said. “It’s basically just to unite the school in a way that we can support our Jays and we feel like it would bring school spirit. So we ask that every Friday you wear something Liberty, it doesn’t have to be blue, [but] just something that supports a team, a club or just a Bluejay shirt.”
Leadership class has seen great results from Bluejay Fridays. Teachers participate every week and fifty percent of the freshmen and sophomore class do as well, although the junior and senior classes tend to not participate, some students forget once in a while.
“I think the idea of it is cool, but I don’t really participate,” freshman Jake Wehmeyer said. “I might do it, if my friends do. I’d probably dress up if there were more reminders.”
Other students enjoy the prizes, but wish for a better chance to win them.
“I don’t really remember [to do] it until I get to school,” sophomore Mallory Vickers said. “An off campus lunch [prize] would be nice, but I don’t feel like there’s a big chance to win it.”
The prizes that can be won are vending machine bucks, points on the R.I.S.E. app, a different grade get a bag of candy each month, off campus lunch, and gift cards for The Nest coffee shop.
“Every advisory class we’re going to go into, you’ll get a ticket and you’re going to write your first and last name and grade on it,” McGrath said. “Then there’s going to be a table at lunch and it’s going to have a little bucket and you’re going to put it in there. You’ll have a chance to win off campus lunch bought by an administrator for you and your friends, you have chances to win points on the R.I.S.E. app, vending machine bucks and a lot of other things that we haven’t put out there yet because they’re surprises.”
Hopefully this new weekly event can become a tradition that each generation at LHS will experience.
“Bluejay Fridays are where you just wear blue on Friday to support Liberty, any athletics, clubs, anything,” teacher Marla Badalucco said. “The original idea came from a college so we haven’t done anything like this in the past. To enhance and have a sense of school spirit, the idea was to wear blue or be the odd man out.”
Juniors in Leadership Class are already planning to tackle Bluejay Fridays even more than this year.
“I think [next year] we should approach this more [hands on] because we’re giving out raffle tickets now, but I think there should be a program that rewards you a little bit more,” junior Max Dobbler said. “Maybe have an app that tracks what day you wear Bluejay gear and have a big prize at the end of the year for whoever participates the most.”