For more photos from the Malden High Pep Rally 2019, click here.
On Wednesday, November 27th, Malden High’s National Honor Society (NHS) organized the Annual Pep Rally preceding the football game against Medford.
Leading up to the Pep Rally, students were encouraged to dress up for Spirit Week following different themes: Twin Day, Decades Day, Pajama Day, Wacky Tacky Day, and finally Blue and Gold Day.
Sophomores, juniors, and seniors were all taking advantage of the opportunity by selling shirts to wear at Pep Rally to represent their class. In addition, at lunch, the NHS was asking members of each class to volunteer to participate in the spirit teams.
Similarly to last year, students could fill in one form to put in the box and add one more for each honors or AP course, club, or sport they participate in. The more forms someone filled out, the higher of a chance they had to be picked to be part of their class’ spirit team.
The teams were announced only a day before Pep Rally, which meant the groups quickly got together to practice for the various events. The events this year consisted of a volleyball game, free throws, the “over-under,” pull-ups, tug of war, and the infamous human pyramid. In addition, a can drive was also incorporated into the point system this year. Every can that was donated counted toward the class’ final score.
By 8:00 am on Wednesday morning, there was already a lot of commotion in the gym. Students who had a free period filed into the gym and sat with their class members in the stands. Others, stopped by the cafeteria to get their face painted or a design airbrushed by Joseph Luongo, Lucia Musilli, or Mary Ann Seager. All the money they raised went towards the Maldonian, the school’s yearbook.
As usual, the volleyball nets were set up first and the spirit teams lined up to play. The first game was between the sophomores and juniors. It was a close one, but the sophomores ended up winning. Then, the seniors went up against the freshmen. Although the freshmen put up a strong fight, the seniors ended up winning this round. Now, it was time for the final round: sophomores versus seniors. The sophomores ended up winning, earning them extra points in the overall competition.
At this time, the stands were starting to fill up as the last period of the day was ending. The Pep Rally was opened by Malden High’s Choral Arts Society and band. After the singing of the National Anthem, the school’s Step Team came out to steal the show. Members of the team coordinated their outfits by wearing black or white turtlenecks with ripped jeans.
It was evident from the cheers of the crowd that the Step Team was very popular. They have been working on their routine since the beginning of the year. Sophomore Micaela Henry, a member of the Step Team since her freshman year, noted that after tryouts for the team close, they “go right into learning the […] routines,” and figuring out their “positions and transitions,” over the next three months.
The first segment of the Step Team’s performance was a collaboration with the band. Junior Wilson Chau, a member of the band explained that the two teams “got it down pretty early” and in his opinion, the performance “worked out pretty well.”
Henry described performing at Pep Rally as an amazing experience. Being able to “[hear] people cheer [her] on,” and reciprocate the energy being given out was “heartwarming and exciting.”
Soon after the Step Team, the cheerleaders and football team were welcomed by the school as they put on a little performance of their own. Throughout the rest of the rally, the band performed a variety of songs to cheer on the teams such as Sweet Caroline and Party Rock Anthem. Chau said that they made sure to perform songs that “people would recognize.”
Following these performances, the spirit teams got right back into the competitions. It was hard for sophomores to keep the lead, as the juniors and seniors proved to be heavy competition.
A lot of the events were hard to call, like the human pyramid and over-under. With the sophomores, juniors, and seniors all having done the human pyramid in the past, it was easier for them to perform. However, for the freshmen, it was a struggle being their first time.
It was a very close call between the seniors and the juniors, but in the end, the senior class won with 43 points. The juniors placed in second with 40, sophomores in third with 30, and freshmen in last place with 19.
