BYU-Idaho students are wrapping up this semester’s Spirit Week with the event’s final activities today and tomorrow. This year’s program lineup included social media challenges, baby races and a college student favorite—free food.
Each day of this week had a theme and correlating activities designed to help build student morale and to simply have fun.
Fittingly, “Spirit Day” got things started on Monday with drawings, games and an informal introduction to Spirit Week through social media. Students set up the Spirit Week headquarters in the university amphitheater outside the McKay Library.
“Every day there is a Spirit Week display at headquarters where students can go and play games and they can win prizes,” said Megan Kezell, social media manager for Student Support and Student Activities at BYU-Idaho.
That display and volunteers from Student Support and Student Activities helped to coordinate and organize the week’s events.
Tuesday was “Founder’s Day,” dedicated to celebrate the forefathers of BYU-Idaho and included a free ice cream social following this week’s devotional. Also Tuesday, were the baby races in which parents helped their little ones walk or crawl across a stage. That night was a torch lighting with the theme of “Let your light so shine.”
“True Blue Day” was next with students encouraged to wear BYU-Idaho gear and blue clothing. Thursday celebrated “Career Day” with the BYU-Idaho Career Fair yesterday in the BYU-Idaho Center.
Today’s theme is “Gratitude Day.” Students are encouraged to participate in an online forum on what they’re grateful for and leave notes of gratitude for the school which will be given to the school administrators and Church Board of Education.
In the spirit of Gratitude Day, Kezell said, “I’m grateful for my friends … my friends here have become my second family. Their love and support has really gotten me through these couple years at school.”
Tonight, there will also be a color chalk run at the Upper Playing Fields on the BYU-Idaho campus at 6 p.m. Entry for that event is $3 with chalk included or $10 with the chalk plus a T-shirt, bandana, and a pair of sunglasses.
Tomorrow, is the final day of Spirit Week and has been dubbed “Service and Community Day.” The school will host a parade at 10 a.m. with free donuts and hot chocolate. The route begins on 2nd E. next to the Hinckley parking lot. After the parade there will be a service activity, followed by a free baked potato bar at 1:30 p.m.
“There’s a little service activity at 11:30 and they’re meeting at the [Manwaring Center] roundabout,” Kezell said.
Finally, the school will attempt to set a world record for the most people involved in a dodgeball game for the Glow-in-the-Dark Dodgeball Tournament in the I-Center. Registration is $3 for that event with check-in from 6:15 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. and competition starting at 7 p.m.
The current world record for most participants in a single dodgeball game was set by the University of California, Irvine on Sept. 25, 2012 at 6,084 people.