Students Attend First Pep Rally of Year

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  • Principal Mario Acosta gets a third cake to the face.

  • Brandon Parks ’20 grabs a cake to take back to class.

  • SunDancers pose in second position.

  • Cameron Hewett ’22 raises a pom.

  • Lily Baizer ’20, Kylie Allen ’19, and Taylor Sandlin ’20 sing the Alma Matter at the end of the Pep Rally.

  • Preparing for the dance, Emma Carrier ’20 sits in her pose to begin.

  • Kylie Allen ’19 smiles at the person she threw a t-shirt to.

  • Ryan Ejuma ’21 points to the person who she handed the pizza to.

  • George Ruhlman ’20, of the K-Pop club, poses at a pause in the dance.

  • Will Clithroe ’19 and James Jarmon ’19 speak on behalf of the football team for their game against East View.

  • ​Harmony Thornhill ’19, Sami Greisdorf ’21, and Claire Pitre ’21 stand on the top of the pyramid for one of their many cheer stunts.

  • After having cake shoved in his face for his birthday, Mr. Acosta sings the alma mater with the school.

  • Gabriella Loper ’20 performs with the SunDancers.

  • Stephen Shiue ’19 shows off his Chinese yo-yo tricks for the crowd.

  • Muhozi Nintunze ’19 performs for Chinese Yo-Yo club.

  • Elizabeth Wolf ’20 and George Ruhlman ’20 performs as part of the K-Pop club.

  • Mr. Thomas Turpin does improv for “How do you do #2?”.

  • Maggie Stout ’19 and Macy Prenger ’19 talk about their volleyball season.

  • Lauren Ogle ’21 prepares for the performance.

  • Students do the warrior chant.

  • Joyce Zhuang ’20 smiles proud during the Sundancers’ performance.

  • Mr. Jason Ziebell flips a chair during the improv session.

  • Christine Groves ’19 smashes a cake in Principal Mario Acosta’s face after he smashes a cupcake in hers (for being birthday twins.)

  • Katie Chung ’19 shows off her dance moves while performing with K Pop Club.

  • Cassidy Lee ’22 shows off his skills with Chinese YoYo Club.

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The first pep rally of the school year took place on Aug. 31 in the big gym. As always, it was filled with school spirit and excitement, and many students performed or gave a speech about their area of interest. Because the date coincided with Principal Mario Acosta and six other students’ birthdays, they celebrated by smashing cake into each others’ faces.

FOOTBALL: What are your goals for your team this season?  

“We really want to see each other grow as a team, and we want to end up making playoffs and winning district outright,” Ethan Brown ‘19 said.

K-POP CLUB: What do you enjoy most about performing as a K-pop Club member in pep rallies?

“For me it’s really fun to show off what our club works on all year round and to perform with friends. The first time we performed [was enjoyable] because it was like the revitalization of our club. It felt really good to kind of show that we weren’t just some club that sat around and didn’t do anything,” George Ruhlman ‘20 said.

VOLLEYBALL: How do you hope to improve this year?

“I want to try and become a better player and get to know the girls better, because we’re from different schools that combined. Being with the team and the energy, we’re always peppy and happy, and we keep each other up,” Elizabeth Duff ‘22 said.

DEBATE: How are you feeling about your first tournament?

“I went to a debate tournament prior but it wasn’t formal so I’m excited [to go to a tournament]. I want to get the highest level possible and to varsity as fast as possible,” Bowen James ‘22 said.

BAND: What do you like about pep rallies, and as a senior, what was one of your favorite moments of performing?

“We spend a lot of time outside of school working really hard. This is when we get to just have fun, perform, and sit on what we have already worked so hard to get done. I think my favorite memory of the pep rally has always been watching the Break Dance Club’s performance [because] it’s always so cool,” Cordell Foulk ‘19 said.

SUNDANCERS: What are you looking forward to in your first year of being a SunDancer?

“I really am looking forward to grow as a team and perform with all my other friends for the first time, because we practiced a lot and worked really hard. As one of the youngest members, I feel like I want to grow to fit in with everyone else, so they don’t see me as someone that’s younger or worse,” Vivian Lang ‘21 said.

FRESHMEN: What did you like about your first pep rally, and what was your most memorable moment?

“I liked the energy of this pep rally, and I especially liked all the performances we had. My most memorable moment would be when the SunDancers came up, because they are always my favorite part to watch,” Fatimah Shah ‘22 said.