In an effort to raise school spirit, a student-led group called Cougar Nation will meet frequently in order to discuss and collaborate about school events. Members of Cougar Nation include a representative from each school sponsored group, as well as five students who have not joined any activity at all.
“Cougar Nation is a brand new organization that focuses on supporting and celebrating all school sponsored groups,” senior class president John Liner said. “In addition, Cougar Nation strives to help make CRHS a better place by teaching core values such as respect, compassion, and leadership.”
According to Liner, the idea of Cougar Nation began back in 2009. At that time, the class presidents noticed a lack of school spirit and wanted to do something about it.
“We had a high level of success but a low level of spirit, and we knew that we had to fix it,” Liner said. “Over the next few years each and every class president has stepped up and contributed into this idea. Past presidents include, Paige Hegedus, Claire McMullan, Courtney Reid, and Jake Elkins. I have the honor of putting all of the presidents’ work into action.”
For senior and softball representative Jordin Trimmins, she hopes that Cougar Nation will be impactful to students.
“I believe that this organization has the potential to dramatically raise school spirit,” Trimmins said. “Not only for sports, but also for activities like: debate, robotics, and all of other unrecognized and unappreciated activities. I hope that it will also affect the way we treat our peers because we have such a great school and the way we treat each other does not reflect that.”
According to Trimmins, students might be skeptical about the organization’s efforts to increase school spirit.
“I’ve heard some students say that they don’t think Cougar Nation will work and I think that is mainly because they don’t know what Cougar Nation is about,” Trimmins said. “But I believe that once the student body sees Cougar Nation in action, they will lose their doubts and then Cougar Nation can really make a difference.”
The overall purpose of Cougar Nation, is to unite students in hopes of creating a supportive environment for every student and to increase school morale.
“I hope to see more fans in the stands for any event, from the debate team to the drill team and to the football team,” Liner said. “I hope to see a new energy, a buzz, around Cinco Ranch. I hope to people excited about what is going on here at CRHS. I hope to see a better Cinco.”
