Central York High School’s Pep Rally served as the second of the three major homecoming events throughout the course of the week. Having taken place on the fifth of October, it is intended to get students excited about the homecoming football game against Spring Grove later that evening.
The event is held annually by Student Council members with the assistance of Ms. Walker’s students and various administrators. Each year, they plan and execute the event differently than years prior to keep ideas innovative and build anticipation.
Most students are not aware of the behind-the-scenes of the pep rally, and the detailed preparation that it requires.
The process behind this year’s pep rally was especially lengthy—those planning had been under a strict time frame since the beginning of the school year with various duties of determining proper announcements and conducting the spirited recognition of the homecoming court.
“We wrote out all the groups that needed to be included based on the time frame we are given,” said Kaitlyn Merritt, a senior and Student Council President. “We then made multiple time schedules and combined ideas and form an order.”
From this point, hosts were contacted and a script was written to ensure a smooth performance for all students. Student Council collectively came up with decoration ideas under an orange and black theme, consistent with Central’s spirit week.
Despite the pep rally’s shortened time, Student Council still believes that students positively perceived the event. “We were able to include an introduction of court, football team recognition, cheer performance and victory chant,” said senior and Student Activities Committee Co-Chair Connor Perone.
The victory chant is one of the most reputable parts of the pep rally; Freshmen students are taught the words at the end of their Get Real days and are expected to compete head-to-head with other classes to see who can recite them the loudest. This year, the junior class won—a shock for many students since the seniors typically prove victorious.
“It is a loud environment,” said junior and Student Council Representative Eva Bumsted. “From the drumline and band booming their music, to the chants of freshmen getting washed out by the upperclassmen, it really just pumps everybody up.”