Masks Can’t Hide Our Pride

The stands are packed with students lost in a sea of school colors, horns, streamers, and signs. Deafening noise bounces off the walls and echoes throughout the school as both students and teachers cheer on team captains, players, and the cheerleading team. The scene screams “pep rally,” and every element of the event exudes tradition and community. The spirit ignited at pep rallies unites the whole student body and is an invaluable part of the high school experience. 

Here at Heritage High School, we do pep rallies big. We are a community that values its traditions but also readily shifts to accommodate change. Our diversity and our achievements, both academic and extracurricular, account for much of our pride, all of which is shown at our pep rallies.

 “Pep rallies are important to be involved in, because it makes you feel a part of your class. Plus, everyone gets so excited about winning. Pep rallies are the only time I get to show school spirit, and Heritage is a great school to show it for,” explained junior football manager Paige Johnson. One of Paige’s favorite moments in every pep rally is at the end: “once it’s all over, the band plays the alma mater and everyone joins in a circle and sings along. At that point it’s kinda cool because no matter who won or who lost, we all still join together,” she said. 

At HHS we are huge on competition when it comes to different grades and their pep rally themes. This year we only had one pep rally, the annual Homecoming pep rally. The themes for each grade were: Star Wars (freshmen), Jerseys (sophomores), Camping (juniors), and, lastly, Tiger King (seniors). When asked why pep rally themes are a major key to our school, freshman Natalie White answered, “The grade themes give us a sense of us being a part of our school but also apart from the school. It’s important to have the best theme so we have a sense of winning.” 

While pep rallies do not require a lesson plan and shift the day’s schedule, making classes shorter, these events are worth the possible inconvenience. The entire student body laughs, cheers, and screams together for one single cause. It makes people feel a part of something bigger than themselves and helps people feel less alone. The atmosphere at pep rallies excites everyone that attends, and people leave joyful and on their toes. 

Pep rallies don’t just represent tradition or our school; they also represent belonging. It’s a time where we all come together and really appreciate one another, as well as have an incredibly fun time. It’s just one little moment in high school but a moment spent as one.