Neer Nation, a student-body based organization was created at NPHS last year to improve the school environment and amplify the atmosphere of school spirit in the building. 

Last year it was an administrative goal of Athletic Director Mr. Carangelo and Vice Principal Mrs. Kwiatkowski to explore the depth of school spirit within the staff and students, and determine how to improve it.  To initiate this process during the middle of last year, they sent around a survey which led to the implementation of focus group meetings once a week with both staff and students. 

The decision was made to focus Neer Nation in two directions:   the student section at NPHS athletic competitions, and overall school spirit in the student body. Carangelo heads the student section, while Ms. Berrios took charge of the school spirit club.

Berrios worked diligently with the PTA and Booster Club to host exciting events which, along with the bi-monthly meetings of the Neer Nation club, have led to a notable increase in school spirit.  Over 69% of students agreed that there has been a change and an improvement in school spirit.

After the positive feedback about the club’s sponsored activities in the first half of the year (the Pep Rally, Homecoming football game, and winter dance), the club is now promoting the upcoming Class Clash.  

This multi-day event will further enhance spirit within the school and set a precedent for upcoming years. Regardless of the work that has been done, there are always areas to improve on. Berrios alluded to the cliched yet true expression “Rome wasn’t built in a day” to describe her process. 

One big benefactor of the enhanced school spirit at NPHS has been the student section.  

Carangelo, who has been with the school for around 15 years,  said he has witnessed amazing student sections, horrendous student sections, and everything in between. In previous years he ran the student section informally, meeting with assumed leaders after the first football game of the season to discuss their contribution. However, he realized this informal approach would never make the student section truly great, and this year he reached out to Biggest Fan Consulting. 

Biggest Fan Consulting is an organization that strives to maximize college and high school student sections’ potential. Founded by GCU alumni and former President of the National Collegiate Student Section Association, Brandon Kaiser, the goal of Biggest Fan Consulting is to help “schools create a sense of community and engagement among students that will last long after the final buzzer sounds.”

After being pitched their program, Carangelo further reached out to other athletic administrators around the country who used the company to see what their experience was,  because it was a big investment. After the Booster Club chipped in $5,000, he was ready to get started. 

Initial student leaders Zach Palmeri and Liam Smith were dedicated from the get go.  Meeting every Friday over zoom for the entire second half of the summer, then undergoing weekly training sessions, they were more than prepared to run the student section beginning in late August. As the year progressed, more senior class members were added to the leadership of the student section, including Grace Kelly, Megan Slattery, Emma Garrett, Nick Santacross, Matt Zimmerman, and Alex Robson.

As the year comes close to an end, Carangelo reflected back on the successes of Neer Nation: “From my standpoint it’s been awesome. There’s a big difference in terms of the unity, publicity, the amount of kids we have at games, and how interactive the students have been this year (i.e standing for the entirety of games instead of sitting).”

The “new and improved” student section  averages 120 students per football game, and 80 for basketball games. However, so far, Neer Nation seems to have targeted an improvement in the student section for only  a few of the many sports at NPHS.  The question of why other sports are not supported has been raised.  

Some students believe that a way to actually improve Neer Nation as a whole is to implement this year’s Character Education slogan: “I belong, you belong, we belong.”  These students felt as if Neer Nation only applied to the most popular sports and thus lowered morale in other sports. 

Junior cross country and track runner Gabriella Glaser expressed this dissatisfaction with student attendance at their meets: “Obviously I wouldn’t expect students to make an hour long drive down the shore, but we do have some really close meets and races. When we see a bunch of kids driving down to Delaware Valley for a football game when we have a home meet, it definitely hits us a little hard because no one ever comes to watch us except our parents.”

As the year comes to a close, Carangelo is looking to expand on Neer Nation and work towards creating even more improvements than this year. The Biggest Fan Consulting partnership and investment will last another two years, and Carangelo already has his rising senior leaders for next year. Vincent Bissacia, Patrick Waeschle, Andrew Kowantz, and Sophia Salazar will be prepared to lead the student section come the Fall of 2023. Although many changes have already been made, there are still many improvements to be made. However, the goals are definitely feasible with the resources given.