While some students may think of teachers as just teachers, the teachers at Lake Zurich are filled to the brim with school spirit, silliness, and dedication.

Leah Enright, Spanish teacher, started the Staff Spirit Squad a couple of years ago, having teachers dedicate time to show the school that the teachers have school spirit too. However, according to Enright this can be a difficult task.

“Everybody’s so inundated with paperwork, grading and assessments and things like that,” Enright said. “Our number one priority is not what t-shirt we’re going to wear or what song we’re going to sing at homecoming.”

According to Enright, who has taught at the school for 23 years and has previously tried various times to involve teachers in school spirit, the effect of bringing together teachers and students is what makes all the work even more worth doing.

“When people take time to really just say, ‘we’re here because we want to be here and we’re here because students are the best thing about teaching, that’s why we got into this profession in the first place,’ and when those two come together that makes it all worth it,” Enright said.

Enright remembers that when she was in high school teachers did not have nearly as much school spirit.

“I recall that sometimes teachers would wear school colors on Fridays and things like that, but they never participated in big events like the homecoming assembly,” Enright said. “To see the staff out of their normal routine where they can act silly or sing or dance or wear a t-shirt from their own past school. I just think that it’s a way to show that the faculty, not only do they have school spirit but they have individual lives and personalities too.”

The Spirit Squad promote school spirit throughout the school year; they performed in the homecoming assembly a couple of times, encouraged teachers to dress up for spirit week, took part in the food drive, and fundraised for charity.

“We just want to show the students that faculty would like to be involved and that we do have spirit,” Enright said. “Whether it be an activity that already exists, or one we sponsor ourselves, just to show that we want to participate and that we have school spirit too.”