This year’s Spirit Week will forever be one to remember: competition was close and fierce, classes each grew closer together, and both varsity teams won their double header basketball games at the Homecoming event. After much hard work and class spirit displayed throughout the week from all participating grades, the senior class of 2025 clinched the first prize by three points, taking home the treasured Mana Cup.
The seniors were consistent with their dress-up participation throughout the week, earning 100% participation almost every day. The class also scored well on big competitions, earning first place for their Pepper Squad skit and the All-School Cheer competition. The juniors were not far behind at the end of the week and placed second overall. The sophomores, freshmen and the middle school group (comprising the 7th and 8th graders) placed third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Senior class president and Spirit Week emcee Joshua Higa felt relief and pride as his class was named the winner. “I felt proud of my grade and of the school [because] everyone gave it their all that week. I was also happy because that was one of the best weeks in my entire high school career,” he said.
From the first day of Spirit Week, it was clear that the competition would be close between the juniors and the seniors. The junior class began the week in the lead thanks points from a pre-Spirit Week game and their dress-up score for the first day. However, the senior class won the Platform Jam, the first game of the week, giving them points to catch up with the juniors.
The competition grew even more fierce on the second day during the Glow in the Dark Dodgeball game. In the 11th versus 12th grade match, the junior girls wore black shirts and jerseys, which were deemed to be an unfair advantage by Christina Yasutomi, the Student Activities Director. A decision was made the decision to turn on the lights to even the playing field. The senior girls won the match, earning five points for their class.
The game between the junior and senior boys was intense as well due to confusion over overtime rules. The juniors lost the game in overtime but challenged the result because they believed the overtime rules were not clearly explained to them. As a result, on the next day, it was announced that considering what transpired in both the girls and boys matches, five points would be awarded to each grade, instead of giving the seniors the full 10 points for winning both matches. Student Council Spirit Week Chair Drew Lohr, a junior, said he thought the final compromise “was fair and in the name of sportsmanship.” He also admitted that “it was a good deal” for his class. Senior Jordan Hunter-Garcia, who was on the senior dodgeball team, said that he believes the referees weren’t able to really watch what had happened on the court, which lead to less clarity on whether or not the seniors should have kept their points.
Day three of Spirit Week was “Generational Dress-Up Day,” where each class dressed up according to a designated age group. The game for this day was Tug-of-War and another controversy ensued after it was discovered that the junior boys had applied chalk to their hands during their Tug-of-War match, where they had beat the senior boys. While the game rules did not specifically disallow the use of chalk, Yasutomi made the decision to revise the results, giving five points back to the seniors. Higa spoke in the assembly the next day, encouraging the upperclassmen to have fun and to remember that the high-scoring games of the week had not yet been played.
Day 4 was Pepper Squad Day, where each class performed an original skit according to their assigned childhood TV character. The senior and sophomore skits exceeded their allotted time and lost points as a result, but they managed to finish first and second, respectively. The juniors came in third, followed by the freshmen and the middle school.
On the final day of the week, each class had to perform one assigned cheer and one of their choice.
When the final results were announced, many middle school students and teachers were surprised by their last place score for their Pepper Squad skit. They were not aware that they were going to be given a default last place score instead of being judged alongside the high school performances. This practice was put in place in recent years to lower the stakes for the middle schoolers in their first years as competitors. However, middle school faculty expressed that they were not made aware of the practice before this year’s Spirit Week. Yasutomi expressed her regret afterwards in a written statement: “Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication on my part. I instructed the judges to not score the middle school…. I told the judges not to worry about scoring their skit because we didn’t want to add any extra pressure. That’s also why we allowed them to have an extra minute while other grades were required to stick with the seven-minute time limit. In fact, both the sophomores and seniors were docked 10 points each for going overtime in their skits. This is a case of misunderstanding and a lack of clarity, not a conspiracy or an effort to disrespect the middle school students, who are more than capable of competing in all of our Spirit Week competitions. To honor the middle schoolers’ efforts, our judges voluntarily scored their skit and revised their rankings, which have been provided to the middle school. For the overall morale on both of our campuses, the scores that were announced at the Homecoming Game will not be changed.”
While the competition was tense at moments for many juniors and seniors this year, senior Samuel Lim, one of the Spirit Week emcees, said his favorite part of the week was seeing his grade have fun. “The ability to come together one last time and have fun and share memories together [as seniors] was really cool,” he said.
In addition to all the games and events, the seniors choreographed and prepared different senior entrances for each day’s assembly. For many seniors, the Tuesday entrance was a highlight. Senior Randie Lueder and classmates from the wind ensemble, worship team, and contemporary band put on a live concert on the gym stage, performing “Livin’ On A Prayer” by Bon Jovi.
Abbie Kato, another senior, loved Friday’s senior entrance, where the senior basketball players and cheerleaders did a choreographed dance, ending with a dunk by senior Matthew Shigetani. “I was taking pictures, and I had to sprint from the back to the front of the gym to get the perfect shot,” she said. It was fun and rewarding, Kato said, capturing the best moments from the week for her friends.
HBA’s annual Homecoming Games closed out the week. This year, the Lady Eagles won their game against Mid-Pacific Institute with a score of 51-40. The boys team also won their game in overtime, with a final score of 52 to 51 against Hanalani School.
After all the competition, Yasutomi hopes that students will remember the uniqueness of Spirit Week. She wrote, “The reason why HBA’s Spirit Weeks are so memorable is because the vast majority of our students’ fully participate— which is rare, and should not be taken for granted. So I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to the entire middle and high school student body for putting in all of their time, effort, energy and voices, to make this year’s Spirit Week especially memorable. With so much enthusiasm, I look forward to next year’s Spirit Week. Go Eagles!”
