This week was spirit week at Open Door School.

“It’s really fun for the kids,” Tim Nunnery, Lawrence County Board of Developmental Disabilities personnel director, said. “Up until this year, it used to be called count week, because we had to send the numbers into the state, although we still had activities every day for the kids. We don’t have to do that anymore, so we went to a fun week where we incorporated spirit.”

Along with Thursday pirate day, this week also included mismatch day, pajama day and favorite sports team day, leading up to the Halloween party today, where students will dress up in their Halloween costumes.

“Not only do the students love spirit week, but the staff loves it as well,” Nunnery said. “Sometimes the staff has more fun with it than the students do.”

Every day is a different theme and every year the themes of the week change.

“Spirit week is something to get the students excited about coming to school,” Kendra Heim, Open Door principal, said. “It is a good energy builder as well as a good way to break up the monotony of a regular school day.”

The themes of each day also make learning a lot more interesting for the students.

“The kids get a lot of educational value based on what the theme of the day is,” Cary Kiser, first year teacher at Open Door, said. “They learn the same things as they normally do, but it is more fun for them in a way that incorporates each day’s theme.”

Pirate day was a very popular choice among the students this year.

“I like dressing up as a pirate,” Tucker Fisher, 15, said. “We always have a lot of fun on spirit week.”

Josh Gool, 15, feels the same way.

“Pirate day is my favorite,” he said. “I also can’t wait until the Halloween party.”

Gool will dress up as Uncle Si from “Duck Dynasty,” one of his favorite television shows.

“Spirit week gives students a reason to get dressed up and get a little crazy,” Heim said. “It is something that is always a lot of fun that we look forward to.”