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Can a splash of school spirit bring better performance? Gibbs High aims to find out

 
Members of Gibbs High’s new pep squad make some noise during a rally at the school on Friday. From left are gladiator mascot Ian Moss, soon to be 18; Kiara King, 17; Chasity Gause, 18; Aynashia DeLaney, 17; and Alyssa Wright, 17.
Members of Gibbs High’s new pep squad make some noise during a rally at the school on Friday. From left are gladiator mascot Ian Moss, soon to be 18; Kiara King, 17; Chasity Gause, 18; Aynashia DeLaney, 17; and Alyssa Wright, 17.
Published Sept. 5, 2015

ST. PETERSBURG

Alexa Dammage arrived on the first day of her junior year at Gibbs High School expecting to roam through the same bland hallways as she did the past two years.

Instead, she found bold, blue and gold posters promoting "Respect. Excellence. Pride." Banners waved from the lampposts in the courtyard, and shiny decals plastered across the gym staked the territory as "Gladiator Nation."

With the help of a $35,000 donation in pep rally materials, the proud yet struggling Gibbs now resembles a spirited campus.

"I guess it makes us more motivated — be good and be the best we can be," said Dammage, 16.

Varsity Brands, the company that owns Varsity Spirit, BSN Sports and Herff Jones, selected Gibbs as one of its "before-and-after" schools to illustrate how increased school spirit can lead to higher graduation and attendance rates.

"I knew right away that I wanted to change the culture of the school," said principal Reuben Hepburn, who took over in January after serving as assistant principal from 2009-10. Gibbs graduated 78 percent of its students in 2013-14, the second-lowest rate in the county, according to the latest available records. Its school grade dropped from a B to a C that year.

What's more, Hepburn said, "It looked like an institution."

Varsity Brands commissioned Harris Poll to conduct a survey based on answers from principals, parents and students nationwide. Students, for example, were asked whether they had high levels of school spirit or low levels. Thirty-two percent of those with high levels of spirit said they perform well above average in school, while only 13 percent of low-spirit students said they perform well. A spokeswoman from Varsity Brands confirmed that no graduation rates or grades were included in the study.

Jonathan Cohen, president and co-founder of the National School Climate Center, questioned the empirical validity of the study. But it is true, he said, that school spirit can contribute to academic achievement — providing it's linked to factors such as parental involvement and high expectations.

"My hunch is that a pep rally alone is going to have minimal impact," Cohen said.

Hepburn said he has already seen improvements, not only in students' attitudes but in attendance rates. Last year, Gibbs had an attendance rate of 84 percent. In the first two weeks of this school year, 95 percent of students have come to class.

"If Gibbs is seen as a winning brand or a winning school, students will come and attend on a regular basis," he said.

When representatives from Varsity Brands sat down with Hepburn in January to discuss business matters, one of the directors, Rika Cuff, saw a need at Gibbs High. The campus had no color, she said. "There was no sign of school spirit. It was very kind of institutional."

Cuff said Gibbs High had all the right ingredients to be a "before-and-after school" — the right administration with a vision, a school demonstrating a need, and low rates of graduation and attendance. Gibbs is the first high school in the country to receive a makeover from Varsity Brands. The company also worked with a middle school in Tennessee.

Over the summer, it brought in artists to create a new Gibbs logo. Workers installed gym decals, interior and exterior signs, custom wind screens for the football stadium bleachers and avenue banners in the parking lot and courtyard, all in time for the start of school.

Gibbs celebrated its new look with a pep rally Friday. Juniors and seniors filed into the gym for an indoor assembly before joining the underclassmen in the courtyard outside. Cheers and chants from the school's new pep squad clashed with the cracks of drums from the revived marching band, both new additions to the school.

"This has never happened before," said senior Melanie Fort, 17, a member of the pep squad whose blue and gold face paint matched her zebra-printed bow. "We all love it. It's like a little family to support the school."

Jerard Williams, a guard on Gibbs' varsity basketball team, was decked out in a blue shirt and blue sneakers that complemented his gold socks.

"You can walk around the school and see so many encouraging statements," the 17-year-old senior said. "I feel like we'll do better in our school because we feel more confident."

Senior Ian Moss walked around the courtyard wielding a costume sword and shield, posing for selfies with students as the school's mascot, the gladiator. He assumed the role just one hour before the pep rally began.

"I think this was made two years ago for someone who wore it once," Moss, who turns 18 on Sunday, said of his gladiator getup. He recalled arriving at the school as a sophomore after moving from Georgia and finding the atmosphere bland and boring. Now, he said, "It just seems more like, 'This is Gibbs.' "

Most students credited Hepburn as the catalyst.

"It was like a regular school, but now it's like a movie," said Fort, the pep squad member. "It's out of control. It's great. Like, this did not happen before."