Head of School Letter: Friday Night Lights are for Everyone!

We are in the midst of an exciting fall season of athletic competition for the Shorecrest Chargers! Sports play an essential role in Shorecrest's education program, providing experiences that help our student-athletes develop physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Spectators attending sporting events also benefit from a wonderful community experience, unique to a PK3-12 grade school, where younger students and their families feel fully invested and welcome to cheer on our Chargers at Friday night football games, among other fun opportunities to show their school spirit. 

Shorecrest’s athletics program embodies the core pillars of our Mission: the pursuit of excellence, physical well-being, creative achievement and the importance of social responsibility. Through athletics, students learn life lessons of commitment, self-discipline, sportsmanship and teamwork. Student-athletes also develop the skills to use good time management, maintain a strong academic record and set a positive example for younger students in the student body. 

One of the most delightful game day traditions at Shorecrest is to have our varsity football players show up at morning carline in their jerseys to walk the Experiential School students into their classrooms and open the car doors of our arriving Lower Schoolers. The connections that are made in this brief encounter are profound. Little hands reach up towards the older students, who gently clasp them, as these Upper Schoolers introduce themselves and head toward Charger Commons. Lower Schoolers give high fives to the football players, Upper Schoolers who seem enormous to them, as they close the car doors and walk to the playground.

Brightly lit on our gorgeous turf field, the evening football games are humming with energy, as our players compete with skill and speed, often finding success against schools that have much larger student populations than ours. The Shorecrest cheerleaders are vivid flashes of green and gold: tumbling, yelling, encouraging the crowd with call and response, and cheering on their classmates as they score touchdowns.  

The Upper School cheerleaders are often joined by the Little Sparks, our Lower School cheer squad, who all stand together in uniform, enthusiastically bolstering the crowd. The essence of community is watching these Shorecrest students of all ages working together, encouraging each other, supporting each other (in some stunts, literally!) and having so much fun representing their school and simply being together.  

The School Band, made up of students from Middle and Upper Schools, has its own section in the stands where they perform the Shorecrest Fight Song and other upbeat melodies throughout the game. The band’s rendition of the National Anthem at the start of a football game is both impressive and inspiring. With the snack bar open, business is brisk and younger siblings run around, playing in the grassy area behind the stands. The student section is full with Chargers dressed in whatever theme is announced at Monday Morning Meeting. (Last week was Western Wear; I was pleased to wear my cowboy boots and see Mr. Hoyle in his white hat.)

At last week’s game, I chatted with a Kindergarten family who knew nothing about it until their son came home on Friday and asked over dinner if they could go that night. They said sure, and headed over to campus for their first ever Shorecrest football experience, which they thoroughly enjoyed. The close game and last minute Shorecrest victory was an added bonus!

We have another football game tonight. The theme is “Tropical” and I hope to see many of you at Haskell Field at 7pm for kickoff. Come be a part of the fun, connect with fellow families, and help us cheer our Chargers on to another victory!

All the best, 

Nancy