Not many students at Lincoln East realize just how much their Student Council does to organize their favorite fall activities, including Homecoming’s Spirit Week and varsity football’s Pink-Out game. StuCo has been hard at work planning and executing a variety of events in order to boost school spirit and liven up the fall season.
Recently, Student Council put together a Halloween Trunk or Treat fundraiser for undue medical debt. The first in Lincoln East history, this Trunk or Treat was a smashing success. Trunks, games, and candy were provided by various Lincoln East clubs, so the Trunk or Treat also functioned to promote East’s extracurriculars. Young elementary school students showed up and showed out, traipsing around the South lot costumed in Halloween apparel.
Another great success for Student Council this fall was Spirit Week, in which students show their school spirit by coming to school in outfits that fit the assigned themes. As per tradition, Spirit Week takes place the week leading up to Homecoming on October 10th, 2025.
This year’s themes, chosen by the Student Council members, included favorites like Adam Sandler Day and Country (as in western) vs. Country (as in country club). Overall, this year’s Spirit Week warranted a great turnout, with lots of student participation. As always, Student Council greatly appreciated all the effort students put into showing their school spirit.
Second-year member Grace Tran serves as one of Student Council’s historians, meaning she plans various StuCo events, including their fun nights. While she is not on the committees that organized the aforementioned events, she still helped spread awareness through social media and word of mouth.
“Something that we really emphasize within the council is giving our full support to those committees and those events when they happen,” Tran said. “We reposted information on social media so people knew our events were happening. Word of mouth is a really big thing because on social media, a lot of stuff is seen online, so word of mouth is really big to spread information.”
Thankfully, all their work paid off. Student Council’s fall events were widely regarded as rewarding and well-organized activities.
“Most recently, we had our Trunk or Treat which was super successful,” Tran reflected. “It’s our first year the Student Council has done it, and we were really nervous because it’s hard to get a rate on how many kids are showing up because we sent out slips to elementary schools. But we had so many kids show up, and people from East too, and it was a really great time.”
However, not every event can exceed expectations in terms of attendance or participation level. While by no means a failure, Lincoln East’s Pink-Out Game saw a decrease in student involvement in relation to last year. In fact, attendance for almost all school-related events has fallen.
Taylor Fortin, Student Council Secretary, noticed the drop in student involvement, too. Unfortunately, once preparation for an event is done, engagement and attendance are up to the student body.
“There’s a lot of intention that goes into everything we do, especially when it comes to advertisements,” Fortin said. “And it’s getting hard now because East has been struggling with their participation. It’s been an issue that obviously we, as Student Council, have noticed. It’s hard when a committee does all this work for one big thing, such as pink shirts, then you can’t really control participation past what you have done and all the work that you put in. So that’s been a struggle to see when our students aren’t participating as much anymore,”
In an effort to counteract diminishing engagement, the Student Council has an abundance of events planned for the rest of this school year. Well-loved events include Football Player Volleyball and Powderpuff Football which garner ample student involvement every year.
“It’s just so much easier and more exciting to be a part of an event that people actually want to participate in,” Fortin responded. “It makes the biggest difference…when there’s already so much student engagement, it makes it all worth it that people actually want to be a part of it and it’s the best type of event to have,”
The best way to show school spirit is purely by showing up. Participation is highly encouraged and appreciated, so be sure to keep an eye out for upcoming Student Council events.
