On Jan. 30 students, staff and administrators gathered in the gym for the second pep rally of the year, honoring winter sports teams.
SGA organized this pep rally, introducing teams including basketball, hockey, track and others. As teams push toward the playoffs, teams informed students of their upcoming contests and try to get fan support. Junior hockey player Justin Heller said, “The pep rally brought more attention to our most recent game as the support was noticeable.”
After team introductions, the dance team Afroelities performed their dance to a mix of songs that represented their African culture and heritage, including the song “Woman,” by Doja Cat. Junior Charlie Rollins said, “The Afroelities’ performances are always very impressive, and whether it is a pep rally or event they constantly produce a very strong performance.”
Following the performance by the Afroelites, the poms performed their county routine, which earned them first place at two invitational competitions and third place at the county competition. The poms are led by captains, senior Ashi Stanislaus, senior Madeline Eig, senior Maddie Sisco and sophomore Hayley Lachter. Freshman pom Jillian Zweig said, “The pep rally was an amazing place to show Wootton our routine and it was extra practice preparing for counties. It was also nice hearing the crowd cheer after we performed.”
The pop balloon game was up after the poms. Each grade had two team members and one member had to pop the balloon using their body; the first team to pop the balloon three times won. Pop balloon game participant and junior Shree Sharma said, “The balloon game was so fun because it was a way to show school spirit and an interesting way to interact with my grade.”
After all of the activities and performances came the highly anticipated student-staff basketball game. The student team was made up of seniors who wanted to show off their talents and skills against the team of teachers. Notable teacher team members included J.D Marshall, Paul Kirk, Maggie Dyer, Chris Thompson and of course, James Long as the referee of the game.
The game was split into two halves, the first half being the first pep rally and the second half being the second pep rally. The first half ended with the students winning and the second half concluded the game with the teachers winning a one-point game. Senior Argil Bilegsaikhan who played in the game said, “ It felt great to play in the student vs staff game as I was just happy to experience this moment with my peers and the staff as I graduate this year.”
The pep rally was split into two sections, with the schedule being adjusted to include two eighth periods. The first pep rally was for students whose teacher had the last name A-K while the second pep rally included students with teachers’ last names spanning from L-Z.
