Students Attend Second Pep Rally of Year
Mario Martinez ’23 beatboxes during the pep rally. Students, elated by Martinez’s performance, clapped and cheered for him in between every set of his beatboxing. Martinez has been beatboxing for about a year and a half and started just to pass boredom but now beatboxing has now grown into a hobby.
Color Guard member Laney McFadden ’20 flourishes a six-foot flag during the pep rally. In this routine the Color Guard combined components of two of their major pieces “Big Show” and “Believe” to create a choreography that would stun the audience. “Just the expressions that you get to do, it’s so fun just being able to perform a piece and really just go full out to convey that joy to the audience,” McFadden said.
Carolina Garza ’20 dances to “Bad Guy”. The SunDancers, a pride favorite every pep rally, put a twist on their performance this pep rally inviting faculty to join their dance. “I find it so fun [dancing with the teachers] because you get to have a small connection with them when you dance together, you get to teach them instead of them teaching you I think that’s really cool,” Garza said.
Mr. Eddy Moreno dances with SunDancer Michelle Davis ’20 for the faculty-student portion of the SunDancer performance. Faculty was notified via email about the opportunity and was given a video with the choreography, and the faculty who wanted to perform had practice sessions in the studios under the tutelage of the SunDancers. “I know I made a fool of myself, but I was part of the show, I just wanted to enjoy seeing the students smile, have a good time, forgetting about all their troubles, and enjoy[ing] the moment,” Mr. Moreno said.
Ms. Shelby Kelly dances with the Westwood Sundancers. Kelly is one of the SunDancer coaches and helped coordinate the event.
French Teacher Anne Macharia dances to “Señorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello. Following last year’s “Baby Shark” performance the Languages Other than English (LOTE) teachers wanted to keep their running title. “Its a great way to show students that in Westwood we can work hard, we can play hard, and we can dance hard…we did it for our students,” Macharia said.
Kyan Komfeld ’21 and Guillermo Ruiz Ortiz ’21 put their hands up for pizza. As tradition for the pep rallies, 10 boxes of pizza are passed out in the duration of the pep rally, the students who show the most school spirts are given the boxes by the cheerleaders.
Cole Elkins ’19 raises his hand to say the alma mater at the end of the pep rally. Every pep rally is ended by singing the alma mater, students raise their hands making the Westwood hand sign which symbolizes a “W”.
Students attended the second pep rally of the school year on Friday, Sept. 27, featuring performances of everything from beatboxing to the Warrior Colorguard. There were many new performances at the pep rally, however the standard components of the pep rallies were also retained, such as routines by the SunDancers and cheerleaders.
One of the most noteworthy performances came near the beginning of the pep rally and was a beatboxing rap by Mario Martinez ‘23. Martinez started beatboxing two years ago as a way to pass his time, however it slowly transformed into a hobby.
“It was really scary actually. Just having to go in the middle of the stage where everyone’s just looking at you,” Martinez said. “You choke a bit, but you know, it happens. [You] just got to keep doing it.”
Soon after Martinez’s rap, the Warrior Colorguard performed a choreographed routine, marking the first time that the group performed at a pep rally. The Warrior Colorguard’s routine included large blue flags and replica white rifles that were combined in an intricate dance.
“I really liked what the rifles [added to the performance]. It’s a lot of fun and it looks really cool,” Oriana Yates ‘20 said.
There was also a performance by the Languages Other Than English (LOTE) staff to the song Senorita by Shawn Mendes and Camilla Cabello. The staff members wore black dresses and the two student singers in the group wore colorful masks.
“It was really a pleasure to [get to] know the rest of the team because I’m new here. My favorite move is toward the end, I love the cha-cha. [Unfortunately], it was more of a side thing,” French teacher Ms. Kelly Harwick said.
The idea to perform the dance to Senorita came from French teacher Ms. Anne Macharia. After they decided to perform Senorita, the LOTE department practiced the moves to the dance during their lunch breaks for the past couple of weeks.
“The first meeting we had we had to decide who is doing what because it’s a lip-sync,” Ms. Harwick said. “We couldn’t figure out who wanted to do the female part so we all chose Mr. McDonough.”
The final event of the rally was scavenger hunt between eight different students. To stay in the game, the volunteers had to find a random objects, including a mechanical pencil and a North Face backpack. If a contestant was the last one back to the starting point, they were out of the game. In the final round, the two remaining contestants competed against each other for who had the best Dr. Acosta impression.
“I was just thinking about how hyped I wanted to get the crowd, I was like ok, just let me get as hyped as possible and see what happens,” Javen Barrientes ‘22 said. “I just got into the final two and after that I was ready to win.”
As the pep rally came to a close, students streamed out of the gym, with the band playing in the background. The next pep rally will be held on Friday, Nov. 8.
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