Traditions
Whitfield's motto, "In Propria Persona," means "to one's own person."
The school embraces this slogan by allowing the students the freedom to participate in the activities that interest them most, thus building a foundation for their passions and interests. Whitfield has a long-standing belief that students shouldn't be forced into activities but rather should be encouraged to participate in a variety of clubs, teams, service projects, and organizations. Therefore, Whitfield does not have any sort of athletic or extracurricular requirement that must be fulfilled for graduation like other similar schools.
Whitfield possesses a relaxed environment in which most students opt not to use the lockers offered to all students. Instead students leave backpacks, gym bags, and even purses in the hallways.
Great pride is taken in Whitfield lunches prepared by a full, professional staff. Former students occasionally visit the school only for the food. In addition to the daily entrees, a full salad and sandwich bar is provided every day, giving students numerous healthy options.
Whitfield School has a school dog, which is a golden retriever named Rascal. Rascal visits numerous classes daily and is a favorite among students and faculty alike. Rascal is Whitfield's third dog.
A Field Day tradition is tug-o-war. The 6th graders face each other, 7th grade battles the 8th, freshmen take on the sophomores, and juniors are pitted against the seniors. All tug-o-war teams (except for the 6th grade teams, which is the entire 6th grade class), is made up of 10 people who are determined by the grade's student council representatives in a joint effort with that grade's head adviser.
During the annual Spirit Week, each class performs a lip sync which is just one of the many activities for which each class earns spirit points. There are also theme dress-up days when member of each class are encouraged to show their spirit by dressing up as the theme for that day, such as a particular decade, characters from a particular movie, or simply tacky clothing in general. Assemblies during Spirit Week last much longer than normal assemblies, almost alway running into class time.
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Famous quotes containing the word traditions:
“Napoleon never wished to be justified. He killed his enemy according to Corsican traditions [le droit corse] and if he sometimes regretted his mistake, he never understood that it had been a crime.”
—Guillaume-Prosper, Baron De Barante (1782–1866)
“And all the great traditions of the Past
They saw reflected in the coming time.
And thus forever with reverted look
The mystic volume of the world they read,
Spelling it backward, like a Hebrew book,
Till life became a Legend of the Dead.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1809–1882)
“... the more we recruit from immigrants who bring no personal traditions with them, the more America is going to ignore the things of the spirit. No one whose consuming desire is either for food or for motor-cars is going to care about culture, or even know what it is.”
—Katharine Fullerton Gerould (1879–1944)