Many organizations use hashtags to advertise and keep others aware of what their doing. Last year, the school joined the trend by creating #lznation to unite the students, administration, and the community. 

With a new push for administrators and department chairs to get on twitter, many LZ accounts have been using #LZNation as a way to get announcements to students. Considering that less than a decade ago, the students did not even have iPads, this is a huge step forward towards embracing this generation’s technological advances and letting it connect students from all grades.

“The main reason we [began the #lznation] was to create unity,” Jessie Houghton, junior and vice president of school improvement, said. “Before we had the hashtag, there was a lot of stigma with the last years’ seniors about [underclassman not being allowed to dress up] for the themes and things like that but I think we’ve come a long way with getting rid of that stigma.”

The hashtag and social media are common grounds that many students use on a daily basis. Taking the step to make a change with the hashtag, allowing everyone to dress up, has paid off. The theme days would separate everyone because if someone was not dressed up, everyone knew they were underclassmen. 

“The changes have been pretty visible after we started the hashtag, because if some of you were to click on lznation it’s not just students but it’s also teachers and faculty,” Christopher Bennett, student council sponsor, said. “We’re kind of just getting everybody more into using social media just to spread the word about all the things going on.”

At the end of last year, the presentation of pictures connected with the hashtag showed a variety of people; there were pictures of everyone from athletes to orchestra members and people of all grades levels together. This showed everyone as equal, it displayed what the school has accomplished as a whole, and it represents why this hashtag is important.

“The hashtag is just one of those ways you can unify the school. It kind of shows all the things [the school] is doing and hopefully it will show a lot of fun pictures too that are school related,” Bennett said. “I think it’s a sign of pride in the school that kids are involved and are proud of what they are doing and proud of what the school stands for.”