Students filled the gym on Friday, Sept. 6 for the first pep rally of the school year. This was the first time the school used Flex to hold a pep rally, instead of taking away from the regular school day. The pep rally included a performance by cheer, a variety of clubs showcasing what they’ve been working on, and sports teams mentioning their achievements.

“I think having the pep rally during flex time was a good idea because we didn’t have to mess up the whole day’s schedule for it,” Ria Makkar ‘22 said. 

The pep rally began with the cheerleaders performing their routine, followed by an upbeat Kpop club dance that was a student favorite. Between that time, the most spirited teacher of the week, Mrs. Natalie Wieland, and the teacher of the week, Mrs. Tamra Franklin, were announced. Afterwards, the Sundancers finished their performances with a hip-hop choreography with Dr. Acosta joining them at the end.

“The performances were very interesting and everyone performed really well,” Sweni Karedia ‘22 said. “My favorite one to watch was the Sundancers since they were really good and Dr. Acosta coming in was funny.”

After all the performances, the sports teams began to present the achievements they had amassed so far. Kenzie Beckham ‘21 and Abbey Jennings ‘22 spoke on girls’ volleyball receiving first place at the Westwood Showcase Tournament, accomplished for the first time in ten years. Gaurav Singh ‘20 and Varun Somarouthu ‘20 also celebrated tennis being number one in the state. Following the sports teams, there was a featured performance by the Chinese Yo-Yo club. The pep rally wrapped up with Coach Travis Dalrymple performing a magic card trick.

“I thought [the magic] was pretty entertaining because there was a lot of buildup to get to the end result of the trick,” Katie Hendler ‘22 said. “I was really surprised to see that the card was in the person’s pocket the entire time.”

The next pep rally will be held in the big gym on Friday, Sept. 27.