Students from the three Twin Valley School District elementary schools presented one grand show of school spirit on the evening of Friday Oct. 5 by participating in a friendly totem pole decoration contest. The totem poles of Honey Brook Elementary Center, Robeson Elementary Center, and Twin Valley Elementary Center were each on display as the district celebrated Elementary Night at the Twin Valley High School football game versus Daniel Boone.

The contest, the first of its kind in Twin Valley, is known as the Raise the Spirit Totem Pole Contest. It was recently created by the Twin Valley Raise the Spirit Committee to give the district’s youngest students the opportunity to offer up their interpretations of what makes each schools unique while celebrating the overall spirit of Raider pride. At the beginning of the school year the art teachers from each elementary school were presented with blank six-foot tall totem poles created and donated by 2012 Twin Valley alumnus Tyler Miller. The art teachers and students then collaborated to create their one-of-a-kind totem poles, bit by bit, over a period of a month and a half.

There were three categories which the totem poles were judged on - Best Overall, Most Spirited and Most Creative. The totem poles were first set up for display at each elementary school for pre-game tailgate parties for the students, and were then transported to the high school stadium entry gates for the patrons of the game. A bin was placed in front of each totem pole, and attendees were given three different colored tickets, one for each category, to place as votes in the totem poles’ bins.