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In our daily announcements, we have a segment dedicated to sporting updates. A major part of homecoming week is the football game on Friday and a heralded part of the North vs. South rivalry is when our athletic teams clash against each other. Sports are intertwined with student culture and student pride at South and garner lots of fans and support. We even have the Devil’s Den that DJ’s for the student section, typically all dressed in one common theme. However, another large, and perhaps overlooked part of our school, is the arts. If I had to say if I thought sports were prioritized over the arts, I’d say yes. But I’d also say that it’s not totally at the fault of sports but rather the interests of the student body.
Despite the fact that we have an all school musical, it doesn’t compare to the reach of all of the meets that occur across 28 different sports offered at our school. There are more opportunities to join teams due to that wide variety and they take place across all months of our school year. Meanwhile for our arts, the extracurriculars can be summarized as choir, band, orchestra and The Looking Glass, South’s poetry and writing publication. Focusing on choir, band and orchestra, even though they also have performances that they advertise, it’s a completely different type of environment than that of a sporting event. You can cheer on during the action at sporting events and talk freely with friends and others. It would be disrespectful to talk during a choral performance and most students would find that environment less interesting to be in because of that. There is still impressive work being done, but the viewing experience is drastically different.
Because of the student body’s investment in our teams and the ambiance of these events, funding is likely to be garnered towards our sports, like the brand new scoreboard that overlooks the football field that was purchased from a party outside the athletic department. This isn’t to say that the arts shouldn’t be valued, respected or appreciated. The vocal performances put on by the choir class are beautiful and intricate as well as their costumes that shine under the stage lights. The end of the year art showcase that takes place in the South backstage area is always unique with lots of interpretive and purchasable art for anybody that walks through to look at. However, the marketing and engagement of sports at South is very strong. According to a study by The National Library of Medicine, 60-80 percent of American Children are involved in youth sports and that contributes to the heavy level of participation at South in our Varsity and JV teams.
Arts programs at South still receive a lot of love from the students and win their fair amount of competitions, but to say that they’d be less prioritized compared to sports due to cliche reasons like healthy development or their importance isn’t true in my opinion, but rather the high engagement of the student body.
