By Zhouran Wen and Aahan Mehra
After months of debate, Lexington High School officially changed its school colors from blue and yellow to royal blue and 24-karat gold. The administration made the switch on Mar. 9 in an effort to increase school spirit.
“The recent turnout at school events has honestly been disappointing. Even larger-scale activities like the Pep Rally have fallen short in terms of energy and student participation… I mean, come on, there’s a teacher getting pie all over his face in the gym and you choose to go to the library to study physics? I’ll never understand it,” Enthu Zeeazum, a physics teacher, said.
Zeeazum noted the LHS administration’s hopes of boosting school spirit.
“I have attended a few of the decision-making meetings over the past few weeks. The main reasoning behind this push for new colors is to make students prouder of the community they belong to. Blue and yellow were fine, but they didn’t exactly inspire anyone… they seemed kind of generic, too, so the administration voted and decided on royal blue and 24-karat gold instead,” Zeeazum said.
However, there has been some difficulty in integrating the color change.
“We’re having some trouble obtaining the new materials for our sports teams’ uniforms and mascot suit, as well as all the other equipment that displays our school colors. The gold seems to be flaking off and weighing down the uniforms, hurting athletes performance,” Fye Nances, a Lexington Public Schools Financial Officer, said.
Additionally, the expenses of this transition are proving difficult for LHS to handle.
“Blue and yellow were pretty easy to buy, and we’ve never had any trouble with that, but royal blue and 24-karat gold are other stories. Now, we have to order these materials from overseas, and they cost an astounding amount of money,” Nances said.
In order to accommodate purchases for these new school colors, LHS is drawing funds from selling the resources of various departments.
“I came to the music room last week and all of the school-bought cellos were gone. I checked everywhere and panicked because I thought someone had stolen them, but I was notified that afternoon that they had actually been sold. This is ridiculous—my students have been playing the air cello for a week,” Oar Kestrah, an orchestra director, said.
These cuts are affecting departments across the school, throwing many classes into disarray.
“I talked to other teachers who have experienced the same issue, and now we don’t know how to go about teaching. I spoke to an art teacher who had all her paint brushes sold and has been teaching fingerpainting instead! I mean, how are we supposed to deal with that?” Kestrah said.
Although many teachers are protesting these changes, the LHS administration stands firmly with its decision.
“The issue of school spirit is our top priority because a supportive community is crucial for learning. One of our core values is that ‘We All Belong.’ How can we practice that mindset without a sense of unity among our students? I am confident that changing our school colors will solve this problem,” Sven Androos, an LHS administrator, said.
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