After receiving a gift, the opposing school slowly starts to open it up. Goodies such as sweets, decorative cards and wholesome notes fill the basket, wrapped neatly with cellophane and tied with ribbons. This is all happening as the crowds cheer on the football team for the game officially starts.

The gift exchange is a good sportsmanship tradition, a school tradition for many years, where two schools exchange gift baskets. The student council and their sponsors, Zachary Neu and Breegan Gholson lead the exchange. StuCo is a part of the Texas Association of Student Councils, which helps connect the school’s student council with other councils. Student Council co-advisor Mrs. Breegan Gholson was the one who brought up the idea of a gift exchange.

“The idea of the gift exchange is something that I learned back when I was in student council in high school, and now it is a tradition that most student councils really try to continue,” Gholson said. “This is just one more way for us to support each other and reach out in a friendly way.”

Several days before a game, our student council presidents reach out to the opposing team’s student council and ask if they are interested in participating in the gift exchange. If they agree, gifts are exchanged at the football pre-game show invocation. Gifts typically include candies, notes, and snacks.

“For Mt. Pleasant’s gift, we gave them pencils with homemade tags on them that said ‘Join MPHS StuCo!’ for them to hand out to their students, bags of candy, and a handwritten note for their officers,” president Ryah Hill said.

When gifts are given and received, they usually go out to the other team’s student councils, presidents, or leadership team. 

“We choose to exchange gifts between the opposing team’s student council to increase community, maintain good sportsmanship, and share kindness,” Hill said.