Overflowing the stands with blue and gold, Midlo’s students fill the stadium with cheers and shouts at the highly-anticipated first pep rally of the year.

“I’m ecstatic for the pep rally to spread my school spirit,” junior Anosh Pithawalla said on the day before the pep rally.

After a year and a half hiatus from pep rallies,  students came back re-energized to celebrate the first home football varsity game on Friday, September 10, 2021. With prepared games, chants, and activities, students enjoyed the sense of community they had missed during virtual learning . While the underclassmen, having never experienced a pep rally before, were unsure what to expect, they knew it was going to be a fun way to spend their Friday afternoon.

“I’m excited to have time to hang out with my friends and honestly to get out of class,” sophomore Riley Abel said. 

In the days before the pep rally, many seniors had unwavering confidence that they were going to take first place. 

“I’m excited that we’re gonna win,” senior Isabella Lee said ahead of the event. “We’re just gonna dominate the other grades.”

For the blue and gold-themed pep rally, upperclassmen and many underclassmen dressed head to toe in their color. With freshmen and juniors wearing blue, the sophomores and seniors wore gold to represent their Midlo school spirit. 

The pep rally commenced with the tradition of seniors storming into the stands. Then junior varsity and varsity fall teams: cross country, golf, volleyball, field hockey, and football received recognition when running across the track.

After all the teams had made their way into the stands, the results of the canned food drive for the Backpack Lunch Program were announced. Freshmen won with seniors close behind, and juniors and sophomore tying for third place. 

Starting off with musical chairs, the seniors played against the sophomores while the juniors were matched up against the freshmen. After the seniors and freshmen won, the winners and losers played against each other. The second round resulted in the seniors and juniors winning. 

Prior to the next game, dizzy stick, the cheerleaders and the dance team performed their routine. The cheerleaders displayed their routine mixed with pyramids and chants. The dance team, the Trojanettes, danced their performance to the songs Kiss Me More by Doja Cat and SOS by Rihanna.

Niral Saravanan got to see one of her close friends and the dance team captain, senior Anya Varkey,  perform at the pep rally. “Seeing her and all the Trojannettes perform was definitely my favorite part,” Saravannan said.

While the dance team performed, groups of four prepared for dizzy stick, a relay game where participants dribble a field hockey stick down the field and at the halfway point stopped to spin around five times. The seniors walked away with yet another win.

Next the bobblehead race was set to take place. Here, two students per class ran a relay while holding a bobblehead of an administrator. Seniors were given Principal Shawn Abel, juniors had Assistant Principal Dr. Denise Bowes, sophomores represented Assistant Principal Mr. Steven Lagow, and freshmen had Athletic Director Ms. Shea Collins.  After a very close race where the freshmen almost prevailed, seniors came out on top once again. 

Finally, the cheerleaders led the crowd in the famous victory chant: a call and repeat chant where each class competes to be the loudest. The juniors came out victorious because, as junior Olivia Leech said, they “all knew what to do this time.”

After the judges discussed sportsmanship, they decided that all four classes displayed excellent team spirit, and gave all the grades first place.  

Once the judges had calculated the results, they announced the rankings. As expected by the class of 2022, the seniors won the pep rally, with freshmen coming in second, and juniors taking third followed by sophomores with fourth place. 

Senior Lizzie Anderson said that “it was amazing to get first,” because “I don’t think we’ve ever won before.”

With the announcement of the seniors winning, they all raced from the stands to crowd the football field. “It was really fun to run at the end,” senior Brooke Marshall said.

The first pep rally of the school year was a success and led to many students feeling excited about the rest of the year as things slowly get back to normal. Freshmen Laila Garcia said that she is now very “excited for future pep rallies.”