A step back

For 13 years, Dress-Up Fridays represented the pride for the LZ community. Starting with only a group of 15 seniors, now it is evolved into one day where the entire school, from freshmen to seniors, dress up to show more pride and support.

It all started in 2005 with a new head coach and a talented football team. With a group of seniors declaring the student section wear white, the team’s victory led to the annual white-outs for the football games. Shane Williams, P.E. teacher, recalls the theme days changing from one day to a week in a matter of 2 years.

“After 2006, the idea was that [students] would do a theme every Friday and then white-out for the play-offs.  They didn’t want to do white-out for the entire year because they had done it for two years in a row,” Williams said. “Starting in 2007, it became a theme of the week. Then they started doing different themes of the week. They just did goofy, random things and then as soon as playoffs started they wore white.”

Starting from a small group of students to the entire student population, the participation for these days increased. William notes that any student, football player or not, can be a part of the united student section.

“It’s a cool environment, and people want to be a part of  showing school spirit, pride, and where you go to school. On a Friday night event, whether you’re playing or whether you are in the crowd, you’re involved. It’s a way where 1800 [students] have the option to be involved. So if you’re not in the band and you’re not on the team, you can still be involved. It’s what makes it kind of special” Williams said.

Once the Dress Up Fridays started every week, Christopher Bennett, social studies teacher, believes that LZHS is one of the first schools around the area that ever started this ongoing tradition.

“I think we were one of the first schools to ever start this. I don’t know if we were the first, but we were definitely one of the first, especially around here” Bennett said.

Whether a student is a freshman or a senior, they all have the chance to show their pride and unity through the Dress Up Fridays. Bringing the community together, the student section becomes a whole.

“It’s a sense of community. It’s one school. I think it’s awesome walking into the cafeteria and seeing a bunch of people dress up. It shows that the school’s got some unity and people have some pride and want to be a part of this school,” Bennett said. “I think people want to belong into something that’s bigger than themselves. People want to be a part of a bigger group. They want to be a part of a whole. They want to be a part of something great.”