After last year’s Homecoming victory celebration by the seniors ended in the inadvertent destruction of the spirit stick, Mrs. Knight, Innovation Specialist, and her students have worked tirelessly to remake the stick to make it bigger and better than ever.

The spirit stick is part of Pine Crest School’s long-standing and highly anticipated tradition. Each year, during homecoming week, the grades compete to win the most “spirit points” by engaging in various games and activities. At the end of the week, the grade with the most points is awarded the spirit stick.

The plan created to rebuild the stick required a lot of time and effort; fortunately, three students volunteered to help with the model and design. Gabe Durate ’25, Mattox Weingarden ’25, and Ryan Hernandez ’25 each assumed their positions on lights, sound, and machinery. Gabe Duarte, the winner of the spirit stick re-design competition last year, guided the other students to build the stick with brighter lights and louder sounds. They have also been designing the new panther head, the stick’s focal point, to be larger and more prominent.

Mrs. Knight said, “It has been very chaotic because we’ve run into a couple of issues during the building, and they have been problem-solving the whole time, so they have been doing a great job making this work.” Taking on such an important project can be nerve-racking, but Mattox said “we’ve been able to work together really, really well,” which helped make the process easier.

At the project’s onset, Gabe proclaimed that his original inspiration for the spirit stick was to “create something that would stand out,” and it seems like they have done just that. The amazing new and improved spirit stick was revealed Friday, October 21st, during the Homecoming game.