By Mackenzie Edwards, Sports Editor
Touchdown, Nighthawks! The student section goes wild, screaming, jumping up and down, waving flags in the air. Everyone is having a great time, thanks to the return of “The Nest.”
The Nest is a new way of engaging students in school events such as games and Homecoming activities. Student Engagement Coordinator Lindsay Austin, with the help of SGA students, recently rebooted The Nest to get more students involved.
“It was created as the name for the student section many years ago,” Austin said. “It hadn’t been used in the last several years, so we’re trying to bring it back as a way to promote school spirit, and just get the students back involved.”
The Nest creates the themes for football games and other sporting events, and helps with Homecoming promotion as well. The goal is to have as many students show their school spirit as possible.
“We are on most major social media platforms as of last week. We are on Tik Tok, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram,” Austin said. “We’re just trying to get the word out and get students taking pride in it and sending their pictures into the school.”
In the future, The Nest would like to take student input into consideration for themes to keep the cheering section engaged and spirited, but Austin knows getting everyone to take part will take time.
“Eventually I hope to have a student board or club that decides everything and works to promote Nighthawk spirit,” Austin said.
At the Marlin Bowl, for instance, The Nest announced a “Hawaiian Night” theme, with leis being handed out at the game, but students went on their own social media accounts and changed the theme to “blackout.” In the past, conflict on theme nights has occurred when different groups within the school have proposed competing theme ideas, which is why The Nest was rebuilt – to have a unified student cheering section.
“We haven’t totally got student support yet, but we’re gonna keep working,” Austin said.
Junior Mackenzie Edwards can be reached at 23edwardsma78@daretolearn.org.
