The 2021-22 school year is different from the rest. There are seven Red Tide captains to help flood the campus with school spirit and, for the first time in school history, PV now has two female captains, seniors Bella Firmani and Shayli Atashi.

Firmani has been interested in being a captain since her sophomore year and wants to be a role model by reigniting school spirit after being so disconnected last year. During the school shutdown and Firmani’s junior year, she felt that “it was going to be hard to get people involved and the school spirit aspect is the most important thing to focus on.”

Due to Firmani’s love of school involvement, she knows that the Red Tide captain position is a great fit for her.

Since this year is the first with two female captains, Firmani noted that “it’s a big change for PV, in a positive way. It’s easier to get everyone more involved and to make people feel more welcome when everyone feels that they are more represented. Having two girls will really help with that.”

According to fellow Red Tide captain Owen Park, “the chemistry is great [and] each captain has a key role in the group.”

Firmani also included that the number one comment she gets when talking about Red Tide is “they’re all expressing how happy they are [that there are] more girls this year.”

Atashi feels the same way about the integration of more girls in the crew of captains, saying “it’s a change, but we’re moving towards the right direction with more girls being represented.”

Park added, “The inclusion of the two female captains is great. They really round out the group and have so much knowledge about spirit and how to get people at the games.”

The past year and a half have been a whirlwind, but students now have a glimpse of hope and normality again. With a visible light at the end of the tunnel, school is starting to return to past traditions as well as starting new ones.

Rallies, sports events, club fairs and other school activities are all efforts organized by ASB and Red Tide to try and get students, returning and new, to expand their horizons and get involved.

The biggest goal for the Red Tide captains this year according to Atashi is, “getting our old school spirit back and trying to build it up as much as possible.”

Firmani added that they are attempting “to try and get more people involved and make everyone feel as welcome as possible… High school can be a lot of fun and we want people to put themselves out there and go out of their comfort zone.”