BG’s Spirit Week from Oct. 5-9 provided opportunities for students and faculty alike to have fun with a variety of competitions and activities. The results of an online survey to determine this year’s spirit dress-down days were announced at the Walk-a-Thon Launch on Sept. 29.

Spirit Week started off with Twin Day on Monday, which allowed students to dress like their friends or their favorite teachers, followed by Tourist Tuesday, Green and Gold Day, Pop Culture Day, and Class Colors Day.

"Spirit Week was a huge success for the school," senior student body President Roviel Arquiza wrote in an email. This year, the school held new contests like homeroom door decorating and "best dressed."

"All of the competitions led to the Spirit Point competition, and the class with the most spirit points at the end of the week got the Spirit Week Champions Cup," Arquiza said. "The reintroduction of such competition among the classes definitely played a huge part in Spirit Week."

"Everyone really tried their best to participate in all the events, and I think the idea of Spirit Points really drove everyone to go the extra mile," said sophomore Sreya Nalla.

In the end, the Spirit Week Champions Cup went to the senior class, with the sophomores in second place, the freshmen in third and the juniors in fourth.

Each spirit day, every homeroom nominated one student for the "best dressed" competition, and at the end of the school day, those students were called to the lobby for judging.

Monday’s "best dressed" title went to senior Caroline Boudreau, who dressed like math teacher Carol Angell. Tuesday’s best-dressed tourists were seniors J’aime Leblond, dressed as a snorkeler, and Charlie Hemenway, dressed as a snowboarder. On Thursday, senior Will Lewis as Dwight Shrute and sophomore Theron Zajchowski as Ace Ventura were the winners.

"Another thing to note was that the teachers were so into dressing up," Arquiza said. "I saw teachers twinning together and dressing up like their favorite characters, which just goes to show that even the faculty enjoyed Spirit Week."

Wednesday’s Walk-a-Thon in Mine Falls Park was the biggest event of the week and one of the school’s biggest fundraisers. Every student who walked sent out at least five mailers to family and friends asking to be sponsored.

In the past, the donations collected have been used to provide air conditioning, signage and technology, with $10,000 being set aside each year to support clubs and activities.

Spirit Week 2015 was a positive experience for the entire BG community.

"Ultimately, I know that both the students and the faculty had a great time," Arquiza said, "and it’s safe to say that Spirit Week was, indeed, a success."

Holly Boivin is a sophomore at Bishop Guertin High School.