LEWISTON — Adry Viles entered Lewiston High School last year anticipating the kind of experiences she had seen on TV: a thrilling homecoming celebration and school dances, to name just two.

“And then we show up and it doesn’t even exist,” she said.

But that will change next week. After nearly a year of planning, students and staff have completely reimagined Lewiston High School’s annual Spirit Week, which starts next Monday and ends Saturday, Sept. 24.

Viles and other students will get a school dance, a homecoming celebration and more. And alumni, too, will be invited to join in some of the fun.

“We grew up wanting and knowing that high school would bring on all this fun homecoming stuff,” sophomore Iphia Zhang said.

Highlights include a semiformal dance, a homecoming football game celebration, “anything but a backpack day,” staff vs. students sports games, a whoopie pie eating contest and the chance to “pie” one of the school’s four principals.

Describing “anything but a backpack day,” sophomore Brock Rancourt said, “There are people who take it kind of lightly, they show up with a Shaw’s bag. And then there are kids who show up with wheelbarrows.”

Lewiston High School students Feysal Abdirahaman, left, and Ahmed Hussein react Tuesday afternoon during a conversation after school while planning for their upcoming homecoming celebration. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Students and staff on the homecoming planning committee said school spirit has been low in recent years, in part due to the pandemic.

“We’ve been so apart, for years,” Lewiston High School teacher Michelle Crowley said.

They’re hoping to throw a celebration that builds school pride in students, staff, alumni and community members.

For the first time, the school will host an alumni dinner catered by Luiggi’s Pizzeria at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, in the high school cafeteria, the night of the homecoming football game. Menu options include lasagna, spaghetti and meatballs in red sauce and one of Luiggi’s signature dishes, “The Great Alfredo,” which includes chicken and broccoli baked with cheese over ziti.

In previous years, school staff have done much of the work planning Spirit Week. But this year, following a push by Viles and her fellow class officers, students have taken on a greater role in choosing the activities.

“We can’t just have this all be faculty led, you know, the students have to be here,” Viles said. “We’ve got to have to have a homecoming committee so (students) can make the big decisions.”

Instead of pining for the school experiences they dreamed of having, then-freshmen class officers Viles, Zhang and Rancourt worked with their adviser, Lewiston High School teacher Gabrielle Blais, to craft a proposal and pitch it to school administrators. After several months of consideration, they received the go-ahead from administrators at the end of the last school year.

Lewiston High School teacher Gabrielle Blais asks a question after school Tuesday during a meeting about Spirit Week and homecoming celebration at the school next week. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Planning for Spirit Week and Homecoming began soon after in July. The homecoming committee numbers more than a dozen students and staff across all grade levels.

Rancourt said he’s seen a lot of interest from students on Instagram, and he’s hopeful participation in the Spirit Week events will be high.

“Everybody’s pumped for it, at least from what I’ve seen,” he said, adding that “everyone” was sharing the schedule of events on Instagram.

Tickets for the dinner are $25 each and can be purchased online by Venmo or at the high school’s front office. Proceeds from the dinner will help fund other expenses for Spirit Week. The ticket also covers the entrance fee for the Homecoming football game.

Students can purchase T-shirts provided to the school at a discount by Rouge Wear in Lewiston and tickets to the dance during their lunch next week, each $10. Students can also buy raffle tickets at $1 each for the chance to pie one of the principals.