Come and join in song together. Did you know that Lyman is the only Seminole County school that sings their Alma Mater every week? Everyone matters is not just a saying, when students and staff come together every Friday morning and after sporting events to sing, everyone is unifying as a school and honoring the blue and gold. As students sing the words together they show everyone what the motto “We are Lyman” really means.

“A lot of what we do prepares you for life after school and ties us together. When we do the Alma Mater we get the arm in arm thing and sing together bring everyone together one last time to tie people together,” said principal Mr. Mike Rice.“Friday is practice singing for the events after school for example: JROTC military ball, graduation. Everyone is singing unlike other schools where the chorus is doing it as a performance.”

Unity means to be joined as a whole and by singing this tune with your fellow classmates you are unifying as one body. By doing so no one is concealing their feelings, people are able to talk about what is happening in each other’s lives, and are able to come together and sing without regrets.

“The Alma Mater gives unity and allows the students to take a second and just breathe to wake up in the morning to get ready for the day,”said sophomore English teacher, Mrs. Caitlin Christmas.

Every Friday chorus students sing the Alma Mater to the school loud and proud. This special tradition brings the whole school together in the morning after the pledge to stand up and sing about how much love is at Lyman by unifying to show our pride.

Although, the student body has different thoughts on whether or not the Alma Mater is actually important.  Some love it while others could definitely live without it. This tune engages students but is it necessary?

“I think the Alma Mater is about how we admire our school and take pride in it,” said sophomore Maya Gonzales, “We know our Alma Mater which makes our performances of it more engaging and prideful. But it doesn’t give me joy when we sing it. My class doesn’t even sing it is very quiet.”

“I love to sing about the high school I am going to graduate from,” said junior Kalvin Martin, “It really brightens my morning and makes me feel great to be a greyhound!”

What do you think, is the Alma Mater necessary to sing every Friday? Should there be more participation in the morning when singing? Comment down below your feedback and opinions.