As the regular season for many fall sports come to an end and teams begin to prepare for their first games in the state tournament, there is an air of excitement and unity around the school. Every fall, hundreds of shouting and screaming students have made their way out to Turco Field, sat in the stands, and anxiously watched as fellow classmates and teachers participated in games and activities meant to inspire and excite the crowd. The Fall Pep Rally has always been an activity that students have looked forward to, an activity meant to unite the school and excite both the athletes and non-athletes. Over the past years, the Pep Rally had been designed in similar ways, with similar games, activities, and cheers which have caused students to have similar expectations each year. However, this year Student Council and the Administration combined to create a new and improved Pep Rally.

There were some extreme changes to the design of the Pep Rally, which are expected to create an improved outcome than in the past years. The past Pep Rallies have occurred on Turco field and consisted of activities such as the the clubs and sports Relay Race, the donut eating contest, tug-of-war, and other more recently added activities such as the student and teacher joust.

However, this year, the Student Council and other Administrators suggested an indoor Pep Rally  in the gymnasium separated by grades with the intention of creating a more enthusiastic environment. “Even though we could not fit the whole school into the gym, we were willing to take a risk and change things up in order to create a louder, more spirited atmosphere with more student participation,” said senior Jack Stedman, the President of the Student Council.

The primary alteration to the Pep Rally design was the location and the splitting of the grades, which resulted in a flux of reactions among the students. Senior Jacqui Stratton said, “I didn’t get why it was split up like that, but i know that the whole school couldn’t fit in the gym.” The Senior-Freshman and Junior-Sophomore arrangement seemed to have caused the greatest negative reaction to the overall new Pep Rally, while students seemed to approve of the indoor location.

Student Council wanted to continue with the theme of a new and improved Pep Rally and designed a seemingly different schedule. Student Council attempted to design a Pep Rally that had more direct student involvement and less sitting and observing. Although many of the activities were relatively the same, numerous ones were created or altered including the relay race, the blind folded money search, the half-court shot contest, the gummy worm toss, and musical chairs.

The overall level of excitement and enthusiasm throughout both Pep Rallies was an improvement from past years. Students were up on their feet cheering and yelling and with this new level of enthusiasm came a new level of intensity. Junior Claudia Schoenthaler said, “People were actually paying attention and participating this year, it was fun.”

The Senior-Freshman Pep-Rally was entertaining as the blue and orange colored students entered the gymnasium led by the Student Council. Certain events, such as the money search and relay race, seemed to be more popular than others.  The crowd was on their feet as Senior Wesley Doolan full-heartedly searched for the loose $20 bill on the floor, eventually sprawling himself out in desperation. Likewise, the transformed relay race was a nail-biter as the pairs of seniors and sreshman from each sport pushed and carried each other on scooters, wheel-barrow raced, and were shoved into sleeping bags. It was a very close race, but football prevailed.

Similarly, the Junior-Sophomore rally held a new level of excitement. Although the crowd was not as enthusiastic as the previous one, they still supported the participating classmates. Some crowd favorites were when Kevin O’Leary successfully made a half-court shot before the 30 second buzzer sounded and when Olivia O’Brien triumphed in a tight game of Musical Chairs.

Although there was a drastic change to the flow of the annual Pep Rally, it was successful. The overall level of intensity was one that had not been seen for many years, accomplishing the goals of the Student Council and the Administration. However, the schedule is always up for debate for Student Council is always looking to improve the school-wide events.