For the final week of October, students enjoy homecoming, pep rallies, the Kinkaid video and the final football game of the year. These events are known as “Spirit Week,” helping relieve the stress that comes with the October season. Yet many students are not familiar with the faces behind these events. 

Every year, the final week of October is celebrated with a series of free-dress days.

This year, Monday kicked off the week with the annual Homecoming dance and “Dress like Kinkaid” Spirit Day for seniors, a coveted tradition at the School. While students in Kinkaid dress up like “nerds” to imitate the Mavs, seniors don Kinkaid uniforms, feather boas, tiaras and fur jackets.

“It’s rivalry week, but you can still build connections with people from Kinkaid,” Spirit Club captain Adair Patterson said. “I had five people who I don’t really know text me and ask if they could wear my school uniform for a dress like St. John’s Day.”

After a day off for parent-teacher conferences on Tuesday, students turn “invisible” in camouflage on Wednesday. 

Next, Thursday marks the start of the homestretch before the big game. Students wear their fairytale Homecoming-themed shirts to celebrate the Thursday pep rallies and don Halloween costumes at night. 

The week ends with Kinkaid Day, where everyone decks out in red-and-black spirit dress at both school and Rice stadium. 

At the beginning of the week, the Upper School celebrates Homecoming. The themed dance is unique to the School because it offers a more casual approach to the celebration, making many new students skeptical.

“It’s really fun because our Prom and Cotillion are very formal. So it’s good to also have a party or an event that’s more creative,” said junior Norah Simon.

To decide the Homecoming theme each year, Dean of Students Bailey Duncan sends out a form on the Infographic where students can vote for the theme. Some of this year’s contenders included “Under the Sea,” “Prehistoric” and “Rock and Roll.”

Last year, the theme was Barbie, in which every student donned pink outfits, and the campus was decorated in hot-pink.

This year, the most voted theme was fairytale.

Once the theme is set, the Student Affairs Council prepares several ideas through weekly meetings to showcase the theme. In the meantime, senior artists design prospective art for the image that will be shown on the back of student T-Shirts during the Thursday pep rallies.

Once a T-Shirt design is chosen, hundreds of T-Shirts are made to be distributed to students from grades K-12.

After the Upper School’s day off for parent teacher- conferences on Tuesday, school spirit is at its highest. With the final game of the season just around the corner, students make it their goal to showcase their Mav spirit.

On Thursday, all students represent the Mavericks at the all-school pep rally. During this pep rally, every student proudly displays their identical “beat Kinkaid” themed shirts as they cheer on their team.

Students enthusiastically watch Chidsey, the mascot, get captured by the Kinkaid falcon, until the varsity football players charge in to rescue Chidsey and save the day. All students, from kindergarteners to seniors, look forward to the excitement and cheer of this annual pep rally. They watch the stunts the cheerleaders perform in awe as they ignite Maverick spirit throughout the School.

“It is the only week where the entire school comes together for spirit instead of just the Upper School,” Young said.

To close off the thrilling week, Mavericks come together on Friday to support their team in taking down the Falcons at the annual SJS versus Kinkaid football game at Rice stadium.

The day starts off with students wandering the halls sporting their red-and-black outfits to show off St. John’s spirit. Students and faculty alike look forward to the excitement of the game.

Between the tailgate to the thrill of a touchdown, Homecoming week is a whirlwind of emotions and exhilaration from start to end.