THE BEST STUDENT SECTION IN SECTION IX

By KATRINA CHIN

Whether it is the first time or twentieth time sitting in the stands at a Washingtonville High School basketball game, spectators are always amazed by the amount of school spirit that our Wizards have.  Washingtonville is an awe-inspiring community where students, faculty and families alike have a vast amount of school spirit and love for our district.

For those who do not already know, a theme is chosen for every home game during the basketball and football seasons.  The themes represent unity for our school.  Senior Jenny Kinsley claims, “It gives us the chance to come out and show the support we all have for our teams. We’re all able to come together and bond over the one thing we love, and that is being a Wizard.”  For the basketball games, Kinsley’s favorite theme is the black out.  It is one of the easier themes to execute since most people have black clothing.  She likes the look of the student section when the fans are all in the same color as it intimidates the opposing team.  Some other themes that have been done are the blue out, white out, American colors, and, of course, Wizard colors.  In addition to themes, students have also participated in a “silent night” where the student section is completely quiet until the Wizards score ten points in the first quarter.  After the team scores ten points, everybody gets loud.  The most recent silent night occurred at the varsity boys’ basketball game on January 6th.

KATRINA CHIN FOR WIZARD WEEKLY

The seniors are an important part of the student section.  They are the ones that lead the students with chants such as “Wizard Nation” and “I Believe.”  According to Jenny, the “I Believe” chant is her favorite.  The seniors also hype up the students to cheer on the teams.  Last year, Chris Kinsley, Jenny’s older brother, led Wizard Nation.  He ran the twitter account and started all the chants.  She says, “He also told me he wanted me to take after him and I just couldn’t say no.” Jenny felt like she could not let his legacy go.

This year, four seniors added a special feature to our student section beginning at the homecoming football game.  They were determined to leave a legacy as seniors and student section experts.  Bella Cosentino came up with the idea and had help from Jenny Kinsley, Kate Annesi, and Aislinn McAleer, to make fatheads of our inspiring principal, Mr. Connolly.  A great deal of time and effort went into making this happen.  Kinsley stated, “A lot of brainstorming went into finding the picture we wanted to use, but then I stumbled upon the picture of Mr. Connolly from his high school days in my sister’s yearbook and I knew we had to use it.”  The night before the big game was when all the construction happened.  Cosentino explained, “The whole idea was to honor the core of Wizard Nation, Mr. Connolly, and leave a memory and  challenge for the underclassmen.”  Jenny pointed out that this homecoming was legendary and no one will ever forget it or be able to top it.  They hope that they will be able to find someone with an equal amount of school spirit to pass them down to when they graduate, making it a tradition for years to come.

Perhaps the best part of being a part of the student section is that when it is game time, everyone comes together; students are not confined to their friend groups.  They always come together to share what they all have in common: the love of being a Wizard.  That is what makes Washingtonville different from other schools. 

For more information about the themes and schedules, check out the Wizard Nation twitter account, @wizardnationwhs. They tweet weekly schedules and outcomes of the games and meets.  Occasionally, they will have polls because it is not just about what the students running the account want, it is about what the majority of the student section would like.  If you would like them to tweet about anything at all, not just sports, do not be afraid to message them.