Got Spirit! (Week)? Hwa Chong Sure Does

Written by: Xiong Zhihan (25A12) and Ng Ray Jia, Ashley (26A13)

Edited by: Lei Yanyang (25S61)

The Hwa Chong Students’ Council organised Got Spirit! Week in the last week of Term 1. With a plethora of events held throughout the week, Got Spirit! Week was designed to celebrate the different communities that define Hwa Chong spirit, while allowing students to have fun and de-stress at the end of a fast-paced Term 1, the councillors in-charge, Ashton and Kong Yi explained. 

Bring Anything But a Bag Day

Students thinking out of the box with their assorted receptacles to store their belongings in. Hwa Chong Students' Council

Kicking off the week with a burst of creativity, our student leaders launched Bring Anything But a Bag Day (BABAB Day) on Monday. Students revelled in the opportunity to unleash their creativity and think out of the box (notice the pun). Pillowcases, bathing tubs, clothes hangers, and even a microwave could be spotted around school as students went about their day. 

“Bring Anything But A Bag Day was meant to highlight the idea of how self-expression forms the basis for school spirit,” remarked Ashton and Kong Yi, explaining the rationale behind the innovative initiative. 

CCA Day

Students representing their CCAs in the Inter-CCA Games. Studio Ardent/Shihan and Ashton

Next up, Tuesday brought along a wave of sports fun! During the Inter-CCA Games, students played Captain’s Ball, Dodgeball and Ultimate Frisbee in various locations around school. Despite the sweltering heat at the AstroTurf, the energy was infectious. For the C1s especially, it provided an excellent opportunity to get to know their new batchmates better, and bond with their CCA-mates! Indeed, students forged precious memories battling it out during the Inter-CCA Games. 

“⁠CCA Day was something that we worked together with CCAC (CCA Committee) to allow students to get to bond with their CCA mates over casual sports games like frisbee and captain’s ball”, Ashton and Kong Yi recounted as they highlighted the importance of fostering strong inter-CCA interaction through engaging activities.

Faculty Day

Students participating in banner painting. Hwa Chong Students' Council

Finally, Thursday featured the vibrant Faculty Day. Faculty Committees organised carnival booths at the Inner Plaza, alongside a 4Facs1Hwach banner painting activity in the Common Room. 

“I really enjoyed manning the Athena booth because it felt like I got to bring friends closer, even if just by a bit. Athena really values togetherness and being there for each other, and through our 2v2 cup stacking race, I had a lot of fun watching friends share a laugh as they scramble for the win. I also really appreciated how engaged and enthusiastic people were to play the games at our booth because it reminded me of how fulfilling it felt to plan activities and events for Athena!” Ashley Ng, an Athena Faculty Committee member remarked as she reminisced her experience organising the faculty day carnival booths. 

Students participating in a cup stacking game at one of the Athena carnival booths. Hwa Chong Students' Council

When asked about her thoughts on the impact and effectiveness of the event in bringing the student population closer to the various Faculty Committees, Ashley also noted that the decorations displayed at the carnival booths and unique stickers distributed by each faculty as a reward for completing carnival games provided a fun way for students to get acquainted with the different Faculty Committees. That said, Ashley felt there was room to grow: “Both of these are great ways to familiarise oneself with the faculties in Hwa Chong, but if the faculty committees can share their experiences more, it would allow the student body to get to know them specifically better.”

Class Signages

Apart from organising events across different CCAs and engaging the student body with the Faculty Committees, Got Spirit! Week’s class signage design initiative also sought to foster a stronger class spirit as classmates collaboratively contributed to the design of their class signage, to be displayed at each class’ homeroom or class bench. 

“Getting classes to design class signages was something we wanted to introduce to allow classes to cultivate a sense of class pride that they can put on display at their class benches and homerooms,” explained Ashton and Kong Yi. 

Reflections on School Spirit

Bird's eye view of the Central Plaza during the Grand Finale. Hwa Chong Students' Council

When asked to share their interpretation of how school spirit can be expressed, Ashton and Kong Yi reflected that “School spirit starts from ourselves in how we express ourselves, and also manifests in the form of CCA spirit, faculty spirit, class spirit, and finally a collective Hwa Chong spirit. Through different activities, we wanted Got Spirit! Week to be a fun and engaging way for us to bond with these communities”. 

In their opinion, one of the more memorable initiatives was BABAB Day: “It is not something that we have done before in Hwa Chong, and it was a very exciting day for everyone who was in school that day.” Indeed, it was a novel idea that sparked enthusiasm and brought the school community together in a unique way. Moving forward, Ashton and Kong Yi plan to find ways to improve them to incentivise more people to take part in related bonding activities in the future. 

Ultimately, Got Spirit! Week not only brought moments of fun and laughter, but also a reinforced students’ sense of belonging as they partook in the activities – a fitting send off to Term 1 as we look ahead to an even more exciting Term 2.

Editor’s note: Grand Finale (Busking @ Central Plaza) on Friday as part of Got Spirit! Week is covered in a stand-alone article.