Everyone's A Winner During Spirit Week

At Wade Hampton High School on Thursday, students were being rounded up and shoved into a crudely-made eight-foot wide jailhouse just outside the school.

Nearby, girls wearing bikini tops over their clothes and young men dressed in togas prowled the cafeteria, unabashedly asking for money.

A rusted car in hopeless disrepair sat, spray-painted, at the front of the school.

It's been chaos for the last four days at Wade Hampton - but it's been controlled chaos.

Spirit Week is in full effect at and Eastside high schools, and the respective institutions have been working at a feverish pace to raise money for the charities of their choice.

This week is "Wade Hampton Week," or "Eastside Week," depending on whether you're a General or an Eagle, and while the crosstown rivalry between the two Taylors-area schools generates some good-natured competition, as well as the opportunity to take part in the silly, the festive and the downright weird behavior, it's all done to better the lives of others.

Each year, the two schools select different charities, and compete against each other to see who can raise the most money. The total amounts raised will be unveiled at Friday at between the two schools.

"Eastside High School's focus is not to beat another school," said Sandy Mitchell, an attendance official at EHS, as well as an alum.

"We're trying to remember the reason for this week, which is the charity. It's not Wade Hampton Week, it's Spirit Week."

Last year, EHS raised $160,000, while WHHS raised $205,000. This year, EHS is raising money for Project Hope, which supports children with autism. Wade Hampton will give its money to the Pendleton Place Children's Shelter.

The Wade Hampton vs. Eastside rivalry dates back roughly 40 years. In 1970, a new school on the east side of Greenville in the growing Taylors area was opened, and to populate it, many students who had been previously geocoded to attend Wade Hampton ended up going to Eastside. 

Today, Spirit Week remains one of the most lasting - and positive - legacies of the rivalry.

"The kids love it. They really are just so focused on raising the money - they have a good time, but they won't let silliness get in the way of what they're trying to do," said WHHS Principal Lance Radford.

"All of this is a lot fun between the schools. It's all in good fun. I'm very proud of both schools."

Mitchell said unlike some schools in the county, Wade Hampton and Eastside both take it as a point of pride that they donate 100 percent of their earnings from spirit week to the charities. Schools are given leeway to use portions of the cash for their own purposes, and often do.

At Eastside High School on Thursday, just over four miles from where Wade Hampton students were locking each other up to raise money, the Eagles were playing their unique a variety of games in front of a packed house in their gymnasium.

A dance contest. A dating game. A contest to see who could eat a cookie off of their own head without using their hands.

Thursday for EHS's purposes concluded with a bonfire and dinner at in Taylors.

At Wade Hampton, a "poultry" night is being held, in which guys dress up as gals and gals dress up like their male pals - the best-dressed wins.

The fun literally doesn't stop for the two schools until Friday night is over. At Eastside, "senior servants," who are upperclassmen who have been "bought," dress up in humiliating garb and perform at the beck-and-call of their masters.

At 1:40 p.m., a pep rally will be held there. Other festivities, mostly involving food, will keep the party going until 7:30 p.m. at Eastside High School, for the big game.

At Wade Hampton, the aforementioned car in front of the school will take a severe beating - for a price. And like EHS, select Wade Hampton seniors will adorn the clothes of a "senior servant" to raise money. Meanwhile, a freshman bake sale will be held during lunch.

For both schools, lunch is prime fundraising time. Special vendors and baked goods lure hungry teens, while Wade Hampton even sets up a television and the popular "Guitar Hero" game, which students can play for a charge. 

The total money raised will be announced at halftime of Friday's game.