As the football homecoming game approached, a pep rally at McCracken County High School was due, but time constraints and a lack of clarity led to an eventful Friday afternoon.
The pep rally started off strong, with the routine cheers and band performance. Ms. Woods, the main organizer of the pep rallies, stated, “I love the band. I think it just, like, sets the tone, sets the mood, and then of course…we always love watching the cheerleaders…”
Introductions by Mr. Jones soon followed.
“[MCHS is] superior athletically, academically, musically, artistically…”, he said, with the cheers of students quickly following.
As the pep rally progressed, though, things started to become a little chaotic.
Homecoming court was announced right after. The freshmen, sophomores, and juniors were called without incident, but there appeared to be a mix-up with the seniors. As they walked across the gym floor, the senior boys were all called by each other’s names.
Despite the errors, the dance team stepped in with a short, but amazing, performance.
As Mr. Jones recognized the seniors on the cheerleading, dance, and football teams, school spirit seemed high.
Then the games began.
Ms. Woods, the House 5 principal, and organizer of school pep rallies, started with “Hold the Line”, a game that looked to be a football toss relay race. However, the participants had some difficulties figuring the game out, and the pep rally quickly moved on.
“I didn’t wanna put it off on the football players…they’re preparing for the homecoming game, and probably the last thing on their brains was this,” Ms. Woods remarked in an interview.
The next three games were ultimately successful, even though the football toss required a redo. Houses 2, 3, and 5 each won a point, but House 5’s point was called into question.
Hula Hoop Leapfrog was about to begin when 2:07 hit, and students began to pack up and leave. There has been a history of early dismissal for homecoming pep rallies, but this wasn’t expected.
“When there’s a mass exodus at 2:07, that was a signal it’s not going well,” Ms. Woods said, “Time management of this last one did not go well.”
In spite of these mishaps, it shows a clear road to improvement for the basketball homecoming later this year.
Ms. Woods commented that the hardest part of organizing a pep rally was getting students to sign up to participate. In earlier years, there were groups of teachers and students from each house, but it led to added stress for teachers.
She told The Mustang Messenger that she is planning on pitching an SNL spin-off for next year, where each house has a group of students and teachers recreate a skit or musical number from the iconic late-night show. “I would love for that to happen, but that’s lofty.”
“Ultimately, you just want it to be fun,” she said. “There are certain things that you look back on your high school career…and you want [the pep rallies] to be memorable.”
