Whimsy, joy, and spirit; these are three things Fargo South High School misses out on each year our school doesn’t host an annual egg hunt in the spirit of Easter. Thousands of public egg hunts will take place across the country next month, spanning from California to Maine, but absent from that list is South High, whose lack of fun egg hunts may dampen its otherwise enjoyable environment. While staff search for ways to bring kids together, they need not look further than organizing an Annual South High Egg Scavenge [ASHES].

Student engagement is down and truancy has risen in the past six years, with a very telling Brookings study showing chronic absenteeism doubling post-COVID. There is an urgent need to find creative ways to make students want to participate in school. There is no panacea, no solution, but ASHES — where eggs are hidden around school and turned in for a chance to win prizes — could be a fun, engaging activity that fosters school pride.

Of course, there will be pushback. Easter is a Christian holiday, and South High has students of many religions. But while Easter itself is Christian, egg hunts are not—if you believe the Easter Bunny was near Noah’s Ark, it’s time to revisit Sunday school. People of any religion can partake; that’s why the secular(-ish) White House has hosted a yearly egg hunt since 1878. There are also debates over who would host it, but if staff can’t, student groups like Honor Society, Student Council, or Bruin Ambassadors could.

If South High wants to energize its students in the springtime spirit, they should look no further than ASHES.