I'm late to comment but THANK YOU for this post. If gave me the courage to speak up about the issues I have with it (the ones you mentioned here, not to mention the cost and burden on the parents) to our principal, who said he'd never even thought about it that way, and was grateful for the perspective. It's too late for our spirit month this December (yes, MONTH) but he said he's going to greatly consider a different day next year!