Sophomore Donna Lonergan was really debating about what to wear during the Red Ribbon Week Spirit Week on “Wacky Wednesday.” She wanted to “stand out,”  and that she did. Lonergan wore a bright plaid shirt, a zebra scarf, green and teal lipstick and a giraffe hat.

“I just wore the most colorful things I could find,” Lonergan said.

Red Ribbon Week is an alcohol, tobacco and drug and violence prevention awareness campaign observed annually in October. Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) hosted a Spirit Week, allowing students to show their awareness. Each day, participants dressed up as a different theme.

“I’m participating because it’s a fun way to promote addiction awareness,” Lonergan said.

Monday was “My Team Monday.” Students wore shirts and jerseys representing their favorite sports teams. Some of the most popular teams included Penn State and The New England Patriots.

Tuesday was “Twin Tuesday.” Much of the student body paired up with a friend and were “twinning” for the day.

Wednesday was “Wacky Wednesday.” This seemed to be the most popular of all. Students wore the craziest and most mismatched things they could pull out of their closets, such as mismatched socks and shoes, crazy shirts and colored hair.

“My favorite part of Spirit Week is definitely ‘Wacky Wednesday,” senior Rachel Rubright said. “Getting to do my hair and makeup as a mess was really fun for me.”

“Throwback Thursday” allowed students to swerve the dress code for the day and go all out for their favorite decade. Many popular styles were hippies, grunge and old sports apparel.

Friday, the final day of spirit day, was Tide Pride Day. On this day, students wore anything they could find to support the crimson and white.

Although dressing up may be fun, Spirit Week is a part of a bigger picture.

“The purpose of Red Ribbon Week is to present a visible commitment to living a safe, healthy and drug-free life,” Mr. Adrian Portland, SADD adviser, said. “The campaign is designed to create awareness concerning the problems related to the use of tobacco and alcohol, among other drugs, and to support the decision to live a drug-free lifestyle. The thought behind Spirit Week is to bring us together as a community, and as a community, we have a better chance of fighting addiction in our area,” Mr. Portland said.