NORTHBOROUGH – The week before school started, Algonquin Regional High School students gathered to kick off what leaders hope will be the start of a new school tradition.
Members of athletic teams broke out their paint brushes and painted a banner that said, “We are all Titans.”
“I’m really excited that we’re doing this because I feel like every year we say we want to bring more pride to the school, but we don’t really do much, but this year we’re actually doing something,” said Francis Edlemon, who was one of the students that helped paint the banner.
In previous years, Principal Sean Bevan has looked for ways to establish new traditions.
This year, the theme for the school year across the entire Public Schools of Northborough and Southborough is a focus on a sense of belonging.
“I wanted to create, with students’ help, a physical emblem that represents and symbolizes belonging, which is a real focus area of ours this year,” Bevan said.
He and his team came up with the idea of the banner. It builds on a European soccer tradition of fan sections creating “tifos,” or large banners that are unveiled over the stands.
The staff members stitched the fabric into the banner, came up with the wording and created the stencil for the students to paint.
Bevan wants the banner and its creation to be a schoolwide event. The banner will be incorporated into the school’s opening day activities. Bevan will show the banner to each grade during class meetings and talk about the school’s values. He plans to ask the students to reflect on how they can do something concrete to reflect one of the values and sign the banner to commit to it.
The banner will be unveiled during the first football game on Sept. 6. Bevan hopes that next year’s rising seniors will come up with the theme and image of the banner for the following year.