By Jillian Slotnick
SPORTS EDITOR
Student Government and the Jungle organized the celebration, which consisted of pie-eating contests, tug-of-war, and team competitions. This year, students took a major role in planning, as opposed to last year’s rally, which was mainly coordinated by Interim Principal Betty Taylor. The rally was attended by the entire school and had participation from students, teachers, and even Principal Jimmy D’Andrea.
The pep rally is a tangible example of all the work student organizations, such as Student Government and the Jungle, do. Senior Salma Ali, a member of Student Government and one of the main pep rally organizers, said, “We want to get more people excited. A lot of people want to skip the last day or skip the pep rally, so we want to get people more excited, which is why we’re having the Jungle leaders as MCs. [Hopefully] they’ll get people hyped and push them to get involved and be a part of it for the next [few] years.”
Student participation is the heart of any successful pep rally, and at AHS, the energy students bring is unmatched. From chanting school cheers to yelling for their friends, the enthusiasm from the students sets the tone for the event. This year, a number of fall sports, from girl’s swimming and diving to golf, participated in the pep rally. The event planners hoped that competing in events like tug-of-war will serve as bonding experiences and demonstrate team unity.
Unlike in past pep rallies, there was no teacher dance or speech from football coach Ernest Perry. Additional activities are the balloon relay, band performances, and Jungle Leaders also acting as MCs. These changes will hopefully allow for greater student engagement.
Students collide during relay game.
The planning and care put into the pep rally is obvious, and reflected by the palpable excitement shown by the students during the event. Connor Acheson, a captain of the football team, said, “I love [the pep rally]. I think we should have more [of them]. I think the team and everybody in the school get super excited, and it’s a lot of fun: super high energy. And it definitely helps before the big game.”
Perry expressed a similar opinion. “The school really likes it and the players seem to like it [as well],” he said. ”Everybody’s really into it. The energy is great, especially so close to the game. I think it really gets us into that mindset of the Thanksgiving [game] and needing to give it our all because it’s the last time we’ll step on that field this season.”
According to Ali, the annual pep rally does not only increase excitement for the Thanksgiving Day football game, but also elevates overall school pride. By bringing the whole community together, it forms a stronger bond between AHS students. Even administrators have noticed the positive change pep rallies and the presence of the Jungle has on school spirit.
Athletic Director Wayne Puglisi said, “I think that the Jungle has had some great turnouts for our home football games. They’re very supportive of other sports [as well,] which is great to see since that’s not been the case in the past. I feel like school spirit is slowly coming back [after COVID and our changing leadership]. Just the way that students act in the Jungle, how they cheer, and what they do for the different teams and different programs; it’s pretty cool.”
