On a sunny autumn day at Walpole High, the atmosphere was one of excitement and high spirits as the bleachers at the football field were illuminated with seas of blue and orange in the form of students and faculty exhibiting Rebel Pride. This annual day meant to unite Walpole High and promote school spirit was held on October 6th, as teachers Ms. Kerry McMenimen and Ms. Emily Loflin, along with Student Council, hosted the  Pep Rally.

The mood for the event was immediately set by members of StuCo welcoming students with cheers, noisemakers, and silly string. Once everyone was settled into the bleachers, Walpole High showed its diversity with a performance from the school band followed by one from the cheerleaders. The representation of not only the sports, but the arts, provided a tone of unity for all who were attending, which would be followed up throughout the entire event with different clubs and grades participating in the games.

The theme of diversity was added to in the first challenge, the obstacle course. There were two heats, one with sport groups, and the other with club groups. With a course stretched across the entire football field, it was an eyeful for those on the bleachers who weren’t participating in the event. First, a duo would attempt to run, or atleast walk, with two legs tied together with a rope. The three legged racers would then, upon finishing, give the go ahead for the next duo to repeat this, except with a pair of pants, which gave the audience some laughs. There would then be a single person dizzying themself by cartwheeling numerous times to get to the last section of the race.  The final leg of the race involved using a rod to keep a balloon up in the air while simultaneously getting to the finish line. Both heats were close, and elicited many joking yells from the audience of bad calls and rigs, but the field hockey girls took the win for the first heat, and Student Council in the second. Afterwards, the always entertaining, yet always predictive, tug of war between classes began. In the freshman vs. sophomore round, the sophomores easily beat out the freshman, where some of them were even pulled to the ground. Juniors vs Seniors was also an obvious win, with the seniors outnumbering and overpowering the juniors. In the last heat, the seniors pulled their way to a win against the sophomores, keeping the tradition of seniors being the tug of war champions.

The water balloon toss came next, and there were many duos of all grades who participated in the challenge. The rules of the toss were simply to toss the balloon to your partner, and if it did not break, your team was allowed to take a step back. There were many who were eliminated right away, along with those who snuck another balloon.  It proved to be more of a friendly competition, with less pressure on Student Council to enforce the rules and declare a legitimate winner. There was also contest this year where students ate doughnuts off of a string without using their hands for help. Both heats of the contest gave spectators a laugh, with some participants going as far as to eat their doughnut off the ground. This event also reflected the friendly competition theme of the day, with no real distinct winners announced.

Ms. McMenimen and Ms. Loflin then moved on to a new event, which would conclude the pep rally of 2011: jousting. Members of WHS could use Stuco bucks,which students could earn if they dressed up during spirit week, to pay to joust with teachers of Walpole High in a special moonbounce. The new event immediately was a hit: the thought of jousting the faculty seemed to whet the interest of many students, who were eagerly collecting StuCo bucks from their fellow students on the bleachers. Excited to face off against their favorite, or maybe their least favorite teachers,  it was a battle to figure out what students had the highest bid. In the first round, Cam Benoit payed $62,000 StuCo bucks to joust with Mr. Szymanski, and proceeded to knock him down fairly quickly. The next few rounds were just as entertaining, with students of all grades jousting Mr .Benjamin Kampper, Mr. William O’Malley, and Mrs. Monica Friar. The jousting provided something new to the annual event, as well as the end to another successful Pep Rally.

Pep Rallies at Walpole High are always occasions that bring out the Rebel Pride in the members of the school, and this year was no exception. The event was a clear representation of Walpole spirit, with not only a lot of blue and orange but a lot of participants in the challenges and courses. And the Pep Rally was a portrayal of the diversity that takes place every day in Walpole High, but how everyone can unite as a whole to broadcast their spirit for their school. With some repeated games, but some new twists, StuCo provided a fun, amusing way to end Spirit Week.