Upon stepping foot on Pinewood Upper Campus, any visitor can spot green and gold themed designs everywhere. For decades, these colors have symbolized “pine” and “wood.”

This year, students and faculty have been split into green and gold spirit teams to compete in a series of activities and earn spirit points. The team with the most spirit points will earn a trophy.

This new program stems from a long-held tradition at Pinewood Middle Campus. On Sports Day, the last day of the school year, Pine plays against Wood in a series of sports games. Upper Campus Director of Student Life Kyle Riches took inspiration from that.

“In third grade, you got assigned a team, and then you stuck on that team all the way through sixth grade, and then it just kind of fizzled out once you got up here,” Riches said.

Riches said the main benefit of having these teams is that it encourages community building.

“You can get a seventh grader cheering on a 12th grader or a 12th grader cheering on an eighth grader and still have that same kind of camaraderie as a team rather than always going against each grade,” Riches said. “It’s really an opportunity for everyone to come together as one school.”

Senior Daniel Blotter, the Student Leadership Committee President, loves the idea of green and gold teams.  

“It’s put a new twist in school contests so that it’s not all grade competitions,” Blotter said. “I’ve always wanted to add this in, and I’m happy that it’s finally happening.” 

 Next year, Riches plans to have students in art teacher Joy Blalock’s art classes design shirts for the teams and have students vote for their favorite design.

“Because it’s a community thing, if anyone has ideas — students, teachers — we’d love to hear them,” Riches said. “We want to make sure everyone can express their opinions and give ideas to make it an even better program for everyone.”

Through the incorporation of these teams at Upper Campus, green and gold are no longer just colors. They represent community-building spirit teams that involve anyone and everyone on campus.