School spirit encompasses a wide range of school activities, such as band, drama, robotics, athletics and art, and no one has more school spirit than Southwest Michigan.

I want to extend my congratulations to the Watervliet Panthers for winning this year’s Southwest Michigan Spirit Tournament championship.

In the final round, Watervliet defeated last year’s champions, the Marcellus Wildcats. To earn the title, the Panthers scored a total of more than 100,000 points and submitted more than 2,700 photos, which received more than 86,000 likes on Facebook.

I proudly sponsor this competition throughout southwest Michigan every year because it gives students an opportunity to showcase what makes our region so awesome and the pride we have in our communities.

The social networking contest spanned five weeks and featured 31 area high schools, which were divided into four brackets named for features that characterize southwest Michigan. Thousands of students participated and submitted photos on Facebook, Twitter and my website to score points for their team.

Residents may see all the submitted photos by visiting my Facebook fan page, John Proos Supporters Page.

I was beyond thrilled at the number of participants in this year’s competition. Although we have regularly seen increases each year in the numbers of students participating and the volume of photos uploaded, this year was off the chart.

As the champion, Watervliet High School will be presented with a traveling trophy and will also receive a special tribute commending the school for the spirit of its students and community. The tribute will be signed by me; Rep. Kim LaSata, R-Bainbridge Township; Congressman Fred Upton; Lt. Gov. Brian Calley and Gov. Rick Snyder.

I want to say thank you to everyone who participated in making yet another spirit contest a tremendous success. The phenomenal response to this year’s tournament really showed the school spirit and pride shared by students, alumni and residents throughout our region.

Sen. John Proos, R-St. Joseph, represents southwest Michigan.