Coming Together to Finish The Quarter Strong!

 This year we have had two pep rallies where the student body is divided into three groups and brought down the bleachers in the park to compete in fun, interactive games to win points for their team. The last pep rally of the year is scheduled for this quarter (Quarter 3). 

       But what is the point of the pep rallies, where we sit in the hot sun in bleachers packed with people? Why are these so important that we have one every quarter? In the world we live in, the school can be difficult and can tend to put people down, so sometimes people need a reminder that they’re not the only one struggling with school, that they have to focus on what they have made progress in, and what they have strengths in. To help remind the students of this progress, the school schedules a period where the student body is gathered down by the park to participate in these games and cheer each other on as their friends compete. This is what the pep rallies are about. 

The people who compete in the games at the pep rally are the members of the ASB program, who also run other events at the school.  They also help situate the mascots, work the sound system, and organize the points board. The ASB kids work very hard to make every rally better than the last. Our mascots are made up of volunteers from each grade that participate in the cheer competition where the mascot leads their corresponding team in a group cheer for points. In an interview about what it was like to participate in the pep rally’s games, Kaya Archie responded, “It was scary at first. The games were really competitive and tense, but it was really fun.”

   Ahead of time, before the rally, students will be notified of the theme for the rally and their team’s corresponding colors/characters. For example, during the first pep rally of the year, it was superhero-themed, the 6th grade was the Hulk, the 7th grade was Batman, and the 8th grade was Iron Man. Each team would wear a color like green, black/yellow, and red. We would also have a teacher mascot that would dress in their team’s colors and cheer their team on during the challenges. They would also act as judges for the student mascot cheer activity, where the student mascots lead their team in a cheer that they made up. This quarter’s theme is modeled after the movie series “Despicable Me,” 6th grade is the evil minions, they are wearing purple, 7th grade is Vector, they are wearing orange, and the 8th grade is the good minion, they are wearing yellow. As a special addition to the last pep rally of the year teachers will also have a team and they are Gru and will be wearing black. We interviewed Mrs. Amorin, the teacher of the ASB program, who sets up and organizes the pep rallies. We asked her how her experience was when she organized the pep rallies and she responded, “It’s really fun to think of different games to play.” 

In conclusion, there are many people that work to make our pep rallies as enjoyable and organized as possible. From ASB to the volunteers, to teachers, it’s almost guaranteed that our last pep rally will be the best one yet, so don’t forget to wear your team colors and have fun!