‘You don’t know what you have until it is taken away’: Groovy Shoes brings back lost high school spirit

The annual spirit competitions between Spokane area high schools are among the most anticipated local school events.

But this year, after they were cancelled in 2021 because of the pandemic and delayed in January because the omicron surge, they were even more so.

“In a weird way, not having it made a lot of students, staff, and the community appreciate it more,” said North Central High School history and leadership teacher Camellia Muñoz.

Muñoz is North Central’s adviser for students competing in North Central’s Groovy Shoes competition against Shade Park High School.

“It is almost like you don’t know what you have until it is taken away,” she added.

Most of the spirit matchups, which are combined with the boys and girls basketball games between rival high schools, were held Monday through Thursday at the Spokane Arena,

Shadle Park and North Central competed for the coveted Groovy Shoes – colorful footwear designed by each school’s art department – on Thursday night.

The Shadle Park side of the Arena was a mass of green and gold while North Central’s red and black filled the other side of the court.

This year, Shadle went “mad for the shoes” with an Alice in Wonderland theme. North Central played some “groovy games” with a board game theme.

“This event was nothing like I had ever seen before,” said North Central senior Abigail Ruffcorn, who transferred to North Central as a sophomore in 2019.

But one night doesn’t fully describe this year’s Groovy Shoes. It’s an event that has become much more than a basketball game and a spirit competition, but a key characteristic of the Shadle Park and North Central experience, and the build up to this year was no different.

You can just ask the seniors who have been there and done that, but with this being their last there’s some extra emotions.

“In general I feel like I have to go all out and scream louder than I’ve ever screamed before because I’m not going to get this opportunity again,” said Shadle Park senior John Reeves. “And honestly, the game is cool, but just being there with all of your friends for the experience is what I’ll miss the most.”

“With this being my last year I have to give it my 110% and rock it out, do the best we can, and have as much fun as I can,” Shadle Park senior Matthew Nitchman also said.

There was also more buzz than usual from the sophomores who had yet to experience the event .

“Not being able to have Groovy Shoes last year was kind of sad, but I’m glad I get to go this year,” said Shadle Park sophomore Ashley Oehl. “I’m really excited for the energy and to hang out with my friends there.”

And while the spirit competition gets a lot of the attention, the rivalry between the North Side high schools is important for those on the court, too.

“I think it means more to me because it’s such a special experience,” said Shadle Park junior and basketball player Kyleigh Archer. “There’s such a big crowd, everybody you know is there, the coaches try to make sure everybody plays, and there’s some added pressure with all of that, but at the same time you’ve got more students supporting you.”

To bring the show to life, students worked for months prior to the event.

Cheerleaders spent months repeating and perfecting Groovy Shoes routines. They also created instructional videos shown in class or posted on Instagram to help students remember the cheers.

“To me it seems weird to say ‘cheerleaders’ as if they’re just leading cheers, but really they navigate this whole process and do a great job promoting the spirit and the life of the school,” said Scott Harmon, a history and leadership teacher at Shadle Park who has been involved with Groovy Shoes for 15 years.

“It’s taken a really good mindset and tons of dedication for all of this to come together, from making sure our routine is presentable towards the crowd and getting everyone on the same page for every little thing, it definitely gets stressful,” Kendayl Hunter, a Shadle Park junior and cheerleader.

Shadle’s cheerleaders got a boost from the “groovy guys” who practiced with the cheerleaders for months to gear up for the more elaborate routines .

Shadle Park senior Matthew Nitchman joined the “groovy guys” team because he wanted to be able to have fun practicing with his friends, but also learn valuable leadership skills .

“It’s been really cool to practice and get everything right, now ‘throwing people around’ is a breeze and it just looks really cool,” Nitchman said with a chuckle.

The students aren’t the only ones who put in work as staff prepare for the “teacher dance,” an annual part of Groovy Shoes where faculty learn a routine .

“Practice has been fun. I’m not a very good dancer so I usually just follow the others, but nonetheless it’s been a tough past couple years and we want to bring the school and the staff together so I think doing this is a small part in trying to accomplish that,” said Robert Homburg, a history teacher at Shadle Park who, after years of requests by his students and other staff, finally gave the annual dance a try.

To bolster the spirit of the themes, students decorated school hallways, hung banners in the cafeteria, and much more.

For example, inside Shadle Park, paper clocks and art of the Cheshire Cat were displayed while at North Central giant paper board game pieces filled the school.

For the game students were given pom-poms and empty milk jugs painted in school colors filled with pennies for maximum noise.

“The decorating for Groovy Shoes is extremely time consuming,” said Evie Patel, a Shadle Park junior. “We started preparing months in advance and were still a bit rushed towards the end, but the final product was really amazing to see.”

School pride was shared not just by students.

“I love seeing the school come together, as a true family, to make Groovy Shoes happen,” Muñoz said.

“For me, I’ve always believed that the coolest part of the project is the fact that this is a student-based event designed by and run by students,” Harmon said. “I take a lot of pride in the fact that our students put in a great deal of effort, a great deal of energy, and they do a great job in organizing this event and making it all come to fruition.”

Students who worked on Groovy Shoes said the planning, practice and preparation translated into friendships and lesson on work ethic and character.

“It’s brought me so close to lots of different people at NC and I’ve made so many friends. It’s just really nice to feel like I am part of something that is bigger than myself,” said North Central senior Mieri Kahsay, who is a Groovy Shoes chair at the school.

Another North Central senior and Groovy Shoes chair, Ashley Hall, felt similar.

“It’s taught me how well of a leadership role I am able to have and the work ethic I am able to put into something I am passionate about,” Hall said. “Seeing such a large group of people appreciate the hundreds of hours of work put in, makes everything worth it.”

In the end North Central won the spirit competition and took home the shoes – the sixth time in a row.

The competition was judged by 11 students of other high schools who rated each side’s cheer organization, participation, noise, overall creativity, and, a new category this year, adherence to mask rules.

Abigail Ruffcorn, North Central senior and Associated Student Body vice president, said “Groovy Shoes means family.”

“It’s one day a year where the North Central community is entirely united,” Ruffcorn said. “On the day of Groovy Shoes everyone shows up to school in their Groovy Shoes shirts and the buzz of excitement and energy that just floats through the hallways is unmatched. Culturally, Groovy Shoes is the most important event at North Central in my opinion.”

Patel said the event was an important opportunity to again help unite the school.

“It’s disappointing to see your school lose, especially knowing exactly how much effort and work was put into the process, but I think everyone who worked to put on Groovy Shoes would agree that it’s really about coming together,” Patel said.

And victory is not the top goal.

“Win or lose, if we can come back to school the next day and I hear students saying ‘that was so much fun last night,’ we’ve done our jobs,” Harmon said.

Jordan Tolley-Turner is a former Spokesman-Review intern and a junior at Shadle Park High School.