The first pep rally led with more worry than excitement. “Will it rain or not? Does this mean the pep rally is going to be inside? Can we move the day if it rains so it is outside?” senior Anne Clampitt said early in the day.
Pep rallies are a time to show school spirit at the stadium while sitting divided up by color and grade but when the news of rain spread throughout the school on Aug. 31, students,especially seniors, were worried the pep rally would be ruined. But the rain held off, the pep rally was outside, and it was a hit.
The pep rally kicked off with the Student Government Association’s annual greeting, having each grade give it their best in what is supposed to be a roll call for each grade, but ended up leaving half the students deaf from all the high-pitched screams. “It’s so much fun yelling as loud as I can with my class,” Clampitt said. “The only problem is I can’t hear for about five minutes after the scream-fest.”
Afterward came the introduction of all the sports teams. The new captains for each of the fall sports (cross country, boys’ and girls’ soccer, cheer, poms, golf, field hockey, volleyball, football and, this year, even the band) let the school know when and where their next event was and of course when the rival Churchill game was for the teams who compete against them.
Junior Diego Pantelis’ favorite part of hearing the teams speak was hearing his friends make jokes in their short moments of glory. Junior Ben Bloch, who plays golf made his annual joke about how he looked like he was in fifth grade and yet the team will still win the state championship. “Ben’s speech was tough,” Pantelis said. “Ben is a legend.”
The heat was hard to beat on the blazing Friday afternoon. Even though rain was expected, the temperature got up to 90 degrees, leaving everyone burning up and needing some air conditioning.
Students didn’t have to be on the field and moving around to feel the heat. Just sitting in the bleachers was enough to work up a sweat for most. “It was my first pep rally and hopefully my hottest one too,” freshman Ethan Stoller said. “Good thing it was entertaining because if it wasn’t, it would have been too much to sit outside.”
The pep rally came to a close with the SGA skit to reveal the homecoming theme. The skit consisted of a race between Walter Johnson, Winston Churchill, Quince Orchard and, of course, Thomas Wootton. The four competed in a relay race where Thomas Wootton won.
Wootton was then interviewed and said after winning he was going to go to Disney World to celebrate. Thus, the theme of amusement parks was revealed and the pep rally was over.