“Give me a L – I – C – K – hyphen – W – I – L -M – E – R – D – I – N – G. What’s that spell? LICK-WILMERDING!” The Lick-Wilmerding High School cheer ROARS, sparking passion among students and facstaff, who proudly wear their tiger stripes.
The LWHS community expresses their school spirit in various ways. Whether cheering along the sidelines of sports games, creating programs for the OneActs or wearing or designing creative merch, there is always something for everyone.
The Chase Center game that LWHS plays against rival University High School at San Francisco’s Chase Center is a prime example of the unique school spirit that LWHS has. Creative signs, loud cheers and a sea of black and gold overwhelm the arena, creating an experience that unites the LWHS community.
photo by Jack Mireles
Gio Lazo ’25, an avid sports fan at LWHS, always shows up for school events. His cheers can be heard from across any field or court. “I feel like with Chase, I really have to prepare myself because it comes with the consequences of me losing my voice, like this year,” said Lazo.
This school spirit is one that Spirit Coordinators Emmie Hou ’24 and Lucas Leeds ’24 have been cultivating this year. During the COVID-19 pandemic, athletes, performers and audiences of students and parents alike felt that school spirit and community were lacking. While events were rarely in person, when they were, everyone was social distancing. Since COVID-19, guidelines surrounding masking and social distancing have lifted, frequent community-building, pep rallies and events are being prioritized to improve school spirit.
When the school community rallies behind them, athletes feel that they perform a lot better, feeding off of that energy. Nikolai Varnavski ’24, co-captain of boys varsity basketball, felt this energy immensely at the Chase Center game. “When we hit a bucket and we score, when hundreds of people cheer for us, it brings everyone’s energy up,” said Varnavski.
Despite a sudden location change for varsity boys and girls soccer for their annual Kezar game against the Urban School of San Francisco, the LWHS student section showed up to the rescheduled game, held at City College of San Francisco (CCSF).
photo by Nora Choi
Carolina Fox ’24, co-captain of girls’ varsity soccer, values the support from peers at their soccer games. “The adrenaline of having people cheer for you is really motivating,” said Fox. However, Fox also recognized that women’s soccer can often be overlooked, and when people attend their games, their performance will have an impact. “So when people show up, it makes us feel like it actually matters if we win,” said Fox.
Cole Tao ’24, co-president of LWHS, feels strongly connected to being spirited at LWHS and finds crowds of students at LWHS events to be highly supportive of one another. “You won’t feel judged [when in the crowd],” said Tao. Tao also considers the quirkiness of LWHS’s school spirit to be something that really sets it apart from other schools. “The hyphen is so technical, and we could just spell Lick, but we still [spell out] Lick-Wilmerding with a hyphen,” said Tao.
From the Spring Musical to the Spring Tapestry Dance Concert and even a potential “Stick-Wilmerding” lacrosse game, the LWHS community has a myriad of events to look forward to, demonstrating our supportive school spirit and roaring Tiger Pride!
