The new Spirit Club has been gaining traction since the club was created last school year. Social Studies teacher Nicole Maffei and World Languages teacher Carolyn Marshall founded the club in hopes to “have more Hereford students attending more Hereford events- athletic events, plays, dances, clubs, performances of any kind [and to] have more Hereford students supporting their peers,” Maffei said.

Maffei was inspired to pass on the school spirit she experienced at college to Hereford.

“[My] college was very spirited, so we have a tailored down version of what I remember participating in at Auburn,” Maffei said. “Basically, the idea of earning points [by attending things to compete] with other parts of the school [makes] it more fun. We have such a great school, and I felt like the one area where we could grow and improve was school spirit.”

            The club introduced their new school-wide incentive early this year. For this project, all classes and faculty were randomly split into two teams: white and maroon.

After admittance to some events held at the school, students have the option to scan their provided QR code that represents the white or maroon team, with each scan adding a point to their respective team. By the end of the year, whichever team has more points will have a celebration.

The goal of this project is to create a unity throughout the school by “[getting] more people out to the games that sometimes don’t get as much attention,” Spirit Club member Jeremy Cain (’18) said. All sports should get attention, “not just big ones like football or lacrosse,” he said.

Even though the school has been divided into two teams, the classes and faculty members will still come together as one while cheering together for our fellow classmates.

“It’s not meant to divide, it’s meant to inspire,” Marshall said.

The white versus maroon project is what the Spirit Club is known for. However, they are in the midst of introducing more projects.

“We’re trying to do a lot of things throughout the community to get [everyone] involved, not just the people at school,” Spirit Club member Josh Wegrzyn (‘18) said.

Spirit Club has been spreading its pride through the projects they’ve introduced, and through the famous bull costume, which is seen at games, events like pep rally, or even just roaming the halls.

The face behind the mascot remains a mystery.

“We want the bull to be his own person and entity and not really a student, but rather, a part of that Hereford spirit coming to life,” Maffei said.

The bull was previously unnamed. However, after students voted for the name of the mascot, the bull is now Brutus the Hereford Bull.

To rack up more points for your team, head out to games and performances, scan your QR code, and spread some spirit.