On Dec. 20, SGA hosted its first-ever winter pep rally in the gymnasium. The pep rally was held in two different time slots, with the schedule changed to include two eighth periods. The first pep rally was for people with an eighth-period teacher named A-L and the second was M-Z.
The pep rally’s main goal was to recognize student participation in athletic teams and clubs year-round. Previously only hosting fall and spring pep rallies, winter sports were never formally introduced. “We wanted students to see our winter sports teams and enhance spirit for them,” junior and SGA historian Madeline Eig said.
This school doesn’t have an area inside big enough to fit all the students, so SGA came up with a solution to hold two pep rallies corresponding with student’s eighth-period teachers. “Because we’ve never done a split schedule pep rally, we had to make sure that we engaged both groups of students while having different events in each pep rally,” Eig said.
Planning a pep rally is not easy: SGA has to plan and prepare everything in detail before hosting one. “It’s a very time-consuming process – lots of layers – and we always want to be sure we include any team or group that wishes to be included,” SGA advisor Amy Buckingham said.
The first pep rally included performances from the Poms, the Kpop dance club, and the Get Groovy Club, previously known as the Woottonetes. The second included performances from the cheer team and the Afroelites dance club. “We wanted students to see performances from all the different groups around Wootton,” Eig said
Students thought the pep rally was executed well. “I thought all the dance teams and the basketball contests were super fun and engaging,” junior Santi Cubero Villiers said.
The pep rally held multiple basketball contests. One was a three-point contest where teacher J.D. Marshall won twice. They also hosted a half-court shot where in the first one senior Kate Hawley made the shot through the “granny” shot technique, and junior Argil Bilegsaikhan won in the second. The second pep rally finished early so junior SGA member and MC Alex Balian improvised, talking until the bell rang at 2:30.
SGA agreed that the pep rallies were engaging and fun even with difficulties. “By having each group that performed during the pep rally only perform at one of the two presentations of the pep rally, more groups were able to perform. I hope we can continue incorporating more groups and featuring more student involvement. Also – Kate Hawley’s granny shot was amazing,” Buckingham said.
While the pep rally is thought to be executed well, SGA is still looking for ways to improve. “I’d like to hear what students and staff think could be different and better – and continue to incorporate as many different parts of our awesome Patriot community as possible,” Buckingham said.
