Tualatin High School was founded in 1992, and since then it has grown and gone through a multitude of changes. The TuHS staff has wondered how student pride has changed over the years, comparing the views of the new staff to veteran. The views are quite different, and that should make students think about whether they personally demonstrate enough pride.

Science teacher and soccer coach Bobby Roberson has been teaching at Tualatin for only three years now.

“From a coaching perspective, the amount of support that we get from the student body is really impressive to me,” he said.

Students enjoy going to the games and cheering on our school, especially at football games. Football is a way for the students to see each other outside of school. Other sports also attract a crowd to cheer them on. But has pride changed over time? Has it gotten stronger or weaker?

“Seeing the different things that students are involved with, in my mind it’s growing,” Roberson said. “I think that especially with the change in administration, there’s been a different push and really focusing on trying to build a more collaborative community between everybody in the school.”

If students’ pride has truly grown for the better, that means students are starting to care more about their school and each other. The new staff all have new ideas, and they seem to encourage school pride and spirit.

Even though many teachers may agree with Roberson, some teachers may not. Veteran Spanish teacher Robin Bailey, who has taught here for 24 years, shared her opinion.

“I think that it is rather weak,” she said. “I think that when you talk to students outside of school, they’re proud of Tualatin, but when it comes to showing it in school or at assemblies, there’s not a lot of energy there, which I always find sad.”

So, has pride decreased through the years, or has it always been this way? Was it strong once upon a time?

“I think most veteran teachers would say this: it has always been weak,” Bailey said. “And I don’t know what can be done to change that because I feel like ASB works their tail feathers off trying to promote involvement, and there just seems to be a cultural apathy and I’m not sure how to change that.”

If, in fact, Tualatin school pride is as weak as Bailey fears, is there any way to improve it? Is there a solution to our weak school pride? Most people would agree that more pride is a good thing.

“What I would say: the more involved students are in activities and sports, the more pride they are going to have in school,” Bailey said. “I always see some evolution between freshmen and seniors as they go through the years. They get better.”

It seems the solution to our weak pride is involvement, but many students aren’t involved in anything, and one thing isn’t enough. Students need to join clubs that interest them, or sports that they enjoy. There is something at Tualatin for everyone; students just need to put some effort in to find it.

Overall, it seems that the staff have varied opinions on our school pride. Throughout the school’s growth and development, students have entered and left TuHS, bringing and taking something new with them.  School pride is a part of every school, and we hope TuHS has enough.