The first pep rally of the year took place on September 30, 2016. Mr. Blasena and Ms. D’orsi, the teachers in charge of this event, worked hard to prepare and present the pep rally.   

While planning this event there were many working parts. The coordinators had to figure out the games and activities, make sure the students would be interested the whole time, and let everyone who wanted to be involved be involved. The easier parts were working together with the faculty and figuring out what prizes would be given out.

Mr. Blasena and Ms. D’orsi were sure that the pep rally would go well. Ms. D’orsi said that the students would be “pumped”, and Mr. Blasena said that every seat will be filled. They also mentioned that the pep rally would go well because they ran one last year and it boosted our school spirit, so they hoped this one would do the same.

After the pep rally Mr. Blasena and Ms. D’orsi were pleasantly surprised at how well it went. “The overall climate was fun and engaging,” Ms. D’orsi stated. Mr. Blasena said , “The pep rally was the best it could be”.

Some things that went smoothly were seating, prizes, backstage crew, and the students coming in.  Things that didn’t go well was that one of the spotlights malfunctioned, but luckily they had a backup plan.

The pep rally consisted of a teacher flash mob where they danced to “Can’t Stop The Feeling” by Justin Timberlake. There was also a game where students had to guess which teacher had an interesting hobby or fact. Some teachers showed their talents. Ms.Dunn sang “Jingle Bells” in Ukrainian and Ms. VanKleef was baton twirling. They announced the teachers and students of the month, the band played, and Dr.Crowe and Mr.Harris made speeches.

With all the time and effort put into the pep rally, the coordinators said that it was worth all the time and energy. Ms. D’orsi stated, “Absolutely, 100 percent.  The pep rally was successful and it was worth it for the students’ reactions.”

For future pep rallies, teachers would like the games and prizes to be different. Ms. D’orsi said that she would include games that didn’t involve talents and do group games to get more teachers involved.  Mr. Blasena said that they wouldn’t have a bake sale the day of, quipping that the students were hyped up on sugar in the beginning, but then had no energy by the end of the pep rally.

Ms. D’orsi said that the students  liked the shortened schedule and that it was a “fun way to end the day.” Mr. Blasena said that the sixth grade enjoyed it most and stated that “all grades are looking forward to the next pep rally and seeing what this year has in store for them.”