- When he is complimented on his town's school spirit, a high school student relates the tale of how their school spirit began to get out of control until Bob, the senior class president, stepped in. He put an end to such insanity as painting the school initials "where they had no business to be!" and such disgusting displays of pagan perversions as snake-dancing in the streets. He taught the students a valuable lesson: that school spirit can be fun and enjoyable as long as it's under the command of a central authority and tightly controlled.—frankfob2@yahoo.com
- Jim brings his visiting cousin Sally to the favorite hangout of students from his school, Lawrence High. Jim rescues her from the attentions of the somewhat creepy Tom, although Sally thought he was nice as wolves go. She then spots a group of students entering wearing armbands, and Jim explains that they're from the High School Service Club, and have been ringing doorbells for the United Fund. Sally mentions that this sort of thing is why Lawrence has a statewide reputation for having the "right kind" of school spirit, not just about sports, but everything. She wishes her own school, Westport High, were more like that.
Jim gives the credit for this to Bob Corby, who was senior class president and captain of the basketball team when Jim was a freshman. He narrates the rest of the story in flashback. Back before Bob made his contribution, school spirit at Lawrence just meant a pep club, cheerleaders, and plenty of noise. When their team won, celebrating students would dance in the streets, drive around honking their horns, and even painting "LHS" in inappropriate places. Then, at a school assembly, Bob gave a speech about how important the support of the student body was to the players, and that they should all regard themselves as part of the team. This inspired the students to redouble their efforts at school spirit, and to be more like Bob, who was a good sport. They stopped making noise when opposing players were taking free throws and booing unfavorable calls by referees. The team seemed well on its way to a state championship when, half way through the season, Bob got very sick. Although the coach was too smart to make a "win one for Bob" speech, everyone in the school felt that way.
The notion of all being on a team spread to student attitudes toward classes and school clubs. There was a general spirit of trying to excel in every effort and taking pride in the school, which gave it an outstanding reputation. In the state championship, Lawrence managed a come-from-behind victory over favored Washington High. The student council presented the trophy to Bob in the hospital. Jim then reveals that Bob lost his fight with his unnamed disease, but went out as good a loser as he had been a winner.
As Jim ends his story, Sally objects to his implication that Bob deserves all the credit for what has happened at Lawrence. She points out that many schools have someone who makes a speech like Bob's, or in some other way is an inspiration, but it doesn't always have such a big effect. Many of the students now taking part in the school's spirit never knew Bob. She claims that it was the entire student body, not just one boy, who made the difference. Jim tells us that he argued about this with Sally for hours, but now he wonders if she had a point. Was Bob that important to Lawrence, or did Lawrence make Bob important? Could any school accomplish the same, if they look at their situation in the right way? What do you think? At this point, the iconic giant question mark of the "Discussions Problems in Group Living" series appears.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content