For generations, laughter, excitement, drum rolls, and pom poms echoed throughout the hallways, pointing every class in the direction of the gym to display their Bronco Pride at the pep assembly. Or, perhaps, to the football games. Or even to the homecoming parade. No matter what event, the high school made its mark as one of the most prideful. But what is Bronco Pride?
“To me, Bronco Pride is having a mindset of appreciating your school and attending classes not because you love sitting at a chair for 45 minutes but because you’re proud to be getting an education from amazing teachers,” said Matthew Lundy, science teacher, class of 2013.
When Lundy was a student, Bronco Pride was deeply rooted in the school’s small-town, agricultural identity.
“We had ‘Drive Your Tractor to School Day’ once,” said Lundy. “Those with tractors would park them in the parking lot, and those who didn’t would just hook a trailer up to their truck and drive that to school.”
By highlighting the country-kid-dominated school population, Lundy underscored how the school’s diversity heavily outnumbered the past. Alongside this, student participation during football games had a level of hard-to-match enthusiasm.
“We had a football game where StuCo handed out baby powder, and once we got our first touchdown, we all threw it up in the air and made this huge cloud of white,” said Lundy. “I remember a ‘Pink Out’ game for breast cancer awareness — a couple of my buddies and I painted the letters to spell ‘BRONCO’ across our chests…that was just how dedicated we were.”
There is still that shared sense of pride amongst the student body.
“Our school has a lot of energy when it comes to Bronco Pride,” said Jentry Hunt, 12. “[Since…] we’re the only school in our district, we have a sense of togetherness that not many other high schools can say they have.”
Hunt believes that time has challenged the amount of pride students have, but it has never threatened to completely disappear.
“I know people in the past have been much more collectively excited about school events, but that doesn’t stop our events now from being just as fun,” said Hunt. “As you progress through high school, you learn all the football chants and spirit week themes and the events at the pep assembly, so it just becomes a habit to be involved.”
Emery Feeback, 12, adds their own outlook of the school’s culture.
“Our school almost always has a positive environment,” said Feeback. “Supporting the arts, sports, and academic achievements really shows everyone’s pride in participating in showcasing the skills and talents that the students at our school have.”
Feeback noted activities beyond pep rallies.
“Some things people do now to showcase pride that I don’t think they did back then was to paint senior overalls,” said Feeback. “That has become a sweet little tradition, and I’m happy I got to do it with all my friends.”
To both students, as well as alum Lundy, Bronco Pride lingers for years without fail.
“…the letters in P.R.I.D.E. stand for the steps to achieving excellence which is something that can really mean something to you if you are proud to go to Spring Hill,” said Hunt. “You know, everybody says things like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to be here,’ or ‘I don’t want to go to school today,’ but at the end of the day, they show up, they get through it, and they succeed because everyone has a little bit of pride in them for this school, no matter what decade it is.”
