DISCLOSURE: This is an opinion article. Please note that unsigned editorials represent the collective opinion of The Wingspan student news staff and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the adviser or Gretna East High School. Columns represent the opinion of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the adviser, the Wingspan staff or Gretna East High School.
With the first pep rally of the year behind us, it’s evident that the current pep rally schedule needs to be changed. Having evening pep rallies creates conflicts for many students, limiting their ability to participate and help build school spirit and pride. Administrators should seriously consider changing the timing of these events to ensure more students have the opportunity to get involved.
So far, pep rallies have started between 6 and 7 p.m. depending on the season. While this schedule allows student-athletes to finish up practice, it doesn’t consider students who participate in activities outside of school such as having a job, participating in a club sport, or even babysitting a little sibling.
The world-renowned Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a pep rally as “an event before a school sports event meant to get students and fans excited and to encourage the team to win;” yet, the current schedule fails to meet this definition. Currently, most students attending the pep rallies are those who are required to be there because they are in-season athletes. This leaves out the main ingredient of a great pep rally…the fans.
Junior Kaitlyn Johnson, a varsity soccer player, is one of those fans. While an active student-athlete, she has found it hard to attend pep rallies to cheer on and support her peers during her off-season from Griffin soccer.
“I wanted to go the pep rally,” Johnson said. “It was hard because I’d have to choose between either the pep rally or club soccer practice. Them [administration] putting it later on a school night just kind of makes it tough for some students to get there because of their other activities.”
To meet the definition of what a pep rally is supposed to be, the time they are held needs to be changed. While some students have suggested that pep rallies be held during the school day, that comes with its own set of administrative conflicts. Not only would holding them during class time force us to make up that time and work anyway, but it would also exclude community members like parents and siblings, who have become an integral and welcome part of our school’s pep rally culture.
“It’s a tough thing to schedule,” Principal Chad Jepsen said. “We want to do a pep rally where we can get as many people here… Not that we don’t have conflicts at night too, but the ones during the day, when you’re comparing pros and cons, just overshadows.”
While both arguments are valid, a compromise is the best solution. Instead of being during the school day or late at night, pep rallies should be held directly after school. If they were at 4 p.m., students and staff members would be able to at least stop by for a little bit to participate and cheer on the athletes in-season before having to leave for whatever commitment they have in the evening.
“I would love for it to be after school because I’m already in the building,” Class Officers sponsor Shea Miller said. “Right now, I go home for like an hour and miss dinner and bedtime with my children, so I would rather have it right after school, because then I can just still have the evening with my kids.”
As far as the argument that evening pep rallies work better for athletics so they can still have a full practice, well, that’s not entirely true. Each season’s athletes are required to attend that season’s pep rally, and their coaches are encouraged to attend. They are already required to stay late into the evening. They could get ready for the pep rally and practice right after school, go to the pep rally and then go to practice, having practice end at about 8 p.m. like when the pep rallies have been getting over. This would satisfy both the students and the administrators, while also providing an opportunity for all fans including students, teachers and community members to attend.
“If we do pep rallies directly after school people would be more inclined to come,” Class Officer, junior Lydia Contor said. “They [students] don’t have to go home or go to their job, they can just go right to it [the pep rally].”
Additionally, the Booster Bash, which was highly successful this fall, could still happen by being rescheduled to directly after the pep rally. This would allow for more community members to get to the school in time and still be included. Holding it near dinner time would also allow everyone in attendance to order from the food trucks before heading home or to their other various after-school activities without having to miss part of the pep rally to wait in line.
At the end of the day, pep rallies are about celebrating the student body and their activities, so it’s important to include as many as possible. And while no schedule will ever be perfect for everyone, this change would allow many more fans, especially students, to attend and for school spirit and pride to grow.
