As you’ve all heard hundreds of times, Mr. Bacon is no longer the commander in chief of BV. 

After countless days in the uniforms of State victors, inspirational speeches and iconic GRRs at assemblies, Bacon’s time at this school came to an end. 

That is not, however, an invitation for BV’s renowned school spirit, one 53 years in the making, to leave along with him. Bacon made incredible contributions to the community here at BV, but it’s our job to continue the traditions that made us sad to see him go. 

We can’t fall back on the narrative that there will be an inevitable loss of spirit or tradition due to Bacon’s departure — to do so would be doing ourselves, especially those starting their senior year, a monumental disservice. 

It is the students, after all, who celebrated when Bacon triumphantly held up hardware to assembly crowds. It is the students who called out to Bacon at the end of every grade-level cheer battle and the students who fill the stands at every football game. 

With Bacon gone, we lost a key member of the BV community, but we still keep the thousands of others who lift BV far above its district rivals through relentless dedication to tiger pride. 

This year, each of us has a responsibility to go all in. Each of us has the opportunity to dress to the nines for spirit days and attend, or be a part of, BV’s various games and showcases. 

The seniors especially are in a unique and pivotal position in regards to continuing the school’s unparalleled culture — they haven’t yet had a single “fully normal” year of high school without an abrupt ending, online classes or masks. 

Furthermore, the younger grades haven’t experienced BV in all its “normal glory” either. It is the class of 2023’s job and privilege to lead a school spirit revival at BV, and it’s the responsibility of the juniors, sophomores and freshmen to buy into the creation of a culture of which they want to be a part. 

With the effort and enthusiasm of an entire student body, BV can become the best it has ever been as we approach what will hopefully be — fingers crossed — the first wonderfully “normal” school year of the decade. 

One last thing — as we adjust to a new principal, remember that comparison is the root of much unnecessary unhappiness. Dr. Golden will never beat Mr. Bacon at being Mr. Bacon, so we should not hold him to such an unrealistic standard. 

Each of us, after all, would fail at being anybody but ourselves. BV must give Golden the opportunity to carry on the torch of spirit that lights the hallways and sets crowds of students ablaze. 

The one guarantee we have going into this year is that it won’t be the same as the last — for better or for worse, the students hold the fate of BV’s culture in their hands. For better or for worse, we decide the power of the legacy Bacon leaves behind.