Pep rallies are no longer a once a year occurrence. This year there have been three so far in the fall semester. First up was the football teams. The second was for the championship bound boys varsity soccer team and the third one was for all the basketball teams.

  The first rally was hosted in the auditorium. When students walked into the auditorium before the pep rally the first thing they could feel was the excitement. It was quite sad, though, that not every student had the chance to attend. The eighth period rally was exclusive to freshmen, seniors, and the football players. Any sophomore or junior students that weren’t invited by class didn’t get to join unless they could make it to the ninth period rally. All of the invited classes received tickets to get in to keep the crowds under control.

Although you couldn’t understand much of what the teachers were saying over the mic, it didn’t matter once the music started and energy in the room spiked to cheers and yells. Cheerleaders made their way to the stage in perfect sync and kept enthusiasm up throughout the performance. They weren’t only impressive, but brought out the school spirit in every student. They were able to get everyone to their feet chanting. The step team and the African dancers also performed to further pump up the crowd.

The next pep rally was for the boys varsity soccer team just before their PSAL City Championship. This pep rally was in the gym and featured the cheerleaders. After the team was announced Zahid Hassan demonstrated some impressive ball tricks. When asked how it felt to have a bunch of other students cheering them on, Anthony Kochelev said, “the soccer team isn’t the most popular sports team, so it’s nice to see all the support from everyone.”

Pep rallies are held with the purpose of encouraging players, so we asked Eric Wiese if it actually helped and he said, “We didn’t win the game, but the pep rally helped to boost our spirits.” The soccer boys seemed like they weren’t used to all the attention and Ms. Turner, the coach of the team, agreed. “I thought that it was really nice that the school acknowledged how well the soccer team was doing. I don’t ever remember the soccer team getting a pep rally before, the boys felt a bit weird because they were not used to being in the spotlight but did enjoy it once they loosened up.”

The last pep rally was before the Thanksgiving break, held for all the basketball teams in the new gym. The entire room was jam packed with kids, not to mention the crowd outside the door attempting to enter. Mr. Archibald, the boys basketball coach said, “We haven’t had a basketball pep rally in at least a few years. It was a good start to the season. The kids appreciated being recognized by their peers and the staff.” In simple terms, your team being noticed is a big confidence boost. Mr. Archibald went on to say, “The pep rallies drum up school spirit in a safe manor, but we have to make sure things don’t get out of control.”

The tradition of pep rallies returning seems like a promising opportunity for the Curtis community to really connect.