By Zoe Huber-Weiss ‘13

In almost every aspect of the Newark Academy community, a sense of competition is evident.  Athletic teams have both inward and outgoing competition, since NA students vie for playing time among fellow teammates and compete as a team against other schools; auditions are held every term for various arts endeavors; academic rivalry is a given; and once a year, we have a whole week centered on competition — Spirit Week, culminating in the Pep Rally.

The Pep Rally is the ultimate arena for the grades to battle it out: each grade morphs into a block of color, skits are used to poke fun at the other grades, and it would be odd if there weren’t a competing chorus of grade cheers every few minutes or so. This year, however, the administrators decided to push the focus away from competition and towards school unity.

Though this is a monumental change for NA, the only thing that has noticeably changed is the attire for the Pep Rally: instead of wearing our grade colors, there was a second Red and Black Day. This was supposed to promote a sense of school community instead of a sense of unity within one’s grade.

Though shying away from the extreme competitiveness that emerges as a result of Spirit Week is beneficial to the school, the manner in which the school is doing it seems strange. It’s not as if the competition were lessened by wearing school colors during the Pep Rally; as a Sophomore, I had to fight the urge to boo whenever the other grades stood up for their skits, and when my grade won, our cheering wasn’t lessened because we were wearing the same colors as everyone else.  The concept of shying away from grade competition and towards school unity is a beneficial one, but changing our outfits on the most competitive day of the year is not an effective measure to take. In order to make this policy viable, we must cut down on the everyday competition that permeates the school community, from athletics to arts to academics.

The process of reducing competition in athletic and artistic venues is difficult as competition is generally required in these settings; however, the amount of academic competition at Newark Academy is astounding and must be addressed.  It creates an environment where students judge themselves not on personal ability, but in comparison to their peers’ success.  It takes focus away from learning and emphasizes the grading instead.  Most of all, academic competition fosters jealousy and resentment among students, creating a hostile environment. In short, the scholarly competition at this school does the opposite of what the administrators hoped for when they changed our attire for the Pep Rally: it discourages a sense of unity throughout the school.  To foster a close-knit school community, we must address not only the somewhat petty competition of Spirit Week, but also the everyday competition that has taken over our academic lives.