-Representing Kean High Positively

by: LadyIntelligence

Kean is known to be one of the top high schools on St. Thomas, filled with a variety of clubs and sports activities, such as Future Business Leaders Of America (FBLA), Student Council, Cheerleading, JROTC, football, volleyball, track, and many more, but the question is whether or not the Kean Family has enough school spirit to be called the best high school on St. Thomas.

For many years there has been a battle between the two public schools on St. Thomas, Ivanna Eudora Kean “Devil Rays” and Charlotte Amalie “Chicken Hawks.” The schools compete to be the best at everything, and, as expected, both schools have tried to convince the public that they have what it takes to be the best high school in the Virgin Islands.

I am a 12^th grader at the Ivanna Eudora Kean high school, and I believe that Eudora Kean is the champion, not just because I’m a student there, but because of what I see everyday. The opening of the school year has been one of the most successful at Kean. The students came to class following all the school rules with high school spirit, dressed to impress with their knee-high socks and uni-colored shoes, and they have remained that way. Before this year, I used to have a problem with the rules and thought they did not make any sense, but that never made me lack school spirit, because I realize that our uniformed look at Kean makes a positive impression on the public. When people see us on the street, they see a difference from Charlotte Amalie.

Lucian, a native of Dominica, said, “I’ve never had any child who went to either public schools, but from what I see in public, Eudora Kean looks way better with the uniform than Charlotte Amalie. When I go down town, I see these Charlotte girls with their ankle socks, all type of shoes that don’t even match their school uniform, and their shirts out of their skirts. I’m telling you if I was a young male, I wouldn’t even give these girls a second look, because they look like ‘hood rats.’”

Carlia, an 11^th grader from Kean, said, “I wear my school uniform with pride, because when I go down town these Charlotte children does be looking a ‘hot mess,’ so I like our look.”

Sometimes it may seem like Charlotte Amalie is “all that,” but in reality Kean is where it’s at. Charlotte gets recognize all the time because it’s been around longer than Kean. We do so much at Kean, but the public doesn’t seem to pay attention to our hard work, and it’s time we take a stand and represent our school with pride. Ivanna Eudora Kean has so much talent, but for some reason some students don’t seem to have enough school spirit to show it.

Students at Kean are always pressuring the football team to win a game, but they have to realize that they can’t expect a change if they only complain about the problem; they have to do something about it. There are a lot of young men at Kean who know how to play football very well, but instead of signing up to be a part of the team, they stand in a corner criticizing the Devil Rays. I believe that if the team players develop school spirit and passion for the sport, the outcome of their games will be more successful. Shay-Shay, a 10^th grader from Charlotte Amalie said, “Kean just needs to win a game, but I hear they have all types of things going on in school, like jams, so I like that they’re having fun in their school.”

School spirit is about representing your school positively through the good times and the bad, showcasing your school to the public, no matter what. This year the students at Kean have shown more school spirit. It started out with Introductory Night, which was indeed a huge success after only five weeks of preparation. Even the Chicken Hawks gave Eudora Kean credit for a job well done. Lee, a student from Charlotte Amalie, said, “I have to commend Kean for doing a good job with Intro-Night. I enjoyed the show and it was far better than ours.”

There was also a School Spirit jam which was held on November 25th at Paradise Gates. Students from Eudora Kean cut up old skirts, shirts, and, pants, and redesigned them, making new outfits to represent the Devil Ray family. The Devil Rays were the loudest at the jam cheering for their school, and even went up for dance contest against the Chicken Hawks, who, by the way, were a little too “chicken” to go into battle.

We as the Kean Family need to keep our school spirit high. We have to realize that we have the ability to do great things. We have talent, we have brains, and we just need to show the public what we’ve got. We need to speak up and tell the public that we do great things at Kean, and if they take the time to observe, they too will see and then pass the word that Ivanna Eudora Kean is “The Best.”