Christina L. as Vicki Viking hypes up the crowd. (Courtesy/Bob Lee) 

Pep rallies are a favorite tradition of CA. Bestowed its special schedule, this event is full of hijinks and games meant to drum up school spirit. But how does a pep rally come to fruition? 

As the Viking, I was gifted the opportunity to see how the Student Council plans the Friday pep rally. The first item on the agenda is picking a theme. The theme can be make or break: the audience needs to be enthralled in it, while also making sure everybody from Seniors to Kindergarteners can understand it. 

Next are the games. Games must be fun, yet competitive, and anyone should be able to join in. Student Council spends a lot of time figuring out which games to pick and tests to see how many participants are necessary. Table-surfing is one of my favorites to watch as we rolled on the ground trying to move a table across us before realizing we were short a couple of people to make it flow smoothly. 

Once games have been picked and numbers have been set, emails go out to the school’s three sections, asking for willing participants. A faculty team is also arranged for a special basketball game. 

While all this is happening, a select few members of the Council are writing up a script for the entire pep rally. Arguably the most important part, every little detail must be scripted for the pep rally to run smoothly. Everything from Directions to the Crowd Cheering goes on a Google doc. 

After the planning stage is completed on Friday morning, Student Council starts its day of waiting. STUCO members make sure that everyone scheduled to participate is ready to go and then sit back and relax. But not for long, at 2:30, all the stress comes back. It shows no signs of stopping until 3:10 when all is said and done.