Malden High School held its annual Pep Rally on November 22nd, preceding the historic 135th matchup between the Malden Golden Tornadoes and Medford Mustangs football team at Fenway Park later that day.
Before the day of the Pep Rally, Spirit Week commenced on Wednesday, November 16th, and would last for one week. Every day there was a new theme: Culture Day, Anything but a Bag Day, Twin Day, Pajama Day, Blue & Gold Day, and Wacky Tacky Day. Students participating in any of the themes would contribute towards their class points on Spirit Day based on their teacher’s discretion if the students “dressed the part.”
Those interested in participating in Spirit Day and representing their class were encouraged to sign up during their lunch period the week before Spirit Day. Mr. Marques, the National Honors Society advisor, revealed the list of potential team players on November 18th via email.
On the day of Spirit Day, participants were told to go to first lunch and then head down to the gymnasium for the “preliminary spirit games.”
At 12:45 PM, the end of period four, many students began filing into the already packed gymnasium, walking to their grade’s assigned section, and finding their friends.
Before the start of the Spirit Day events, Principal Mastrangelo informed everyone to stand up and proceeded to speak about the Colorado shooting tragedy. Mastrangelo then asked for a moment of silence for the victims.
When it was over, with everyone remaining standing, the choir began to sing the national anthem, bringing applause from the crowd when they finished.
Afterward, the step team came out, dressed in a white shirt and blue & gold pants, and performed in sync with one another. The crowd was loud and electrified by the performance.
Once the step team finished their performance, a two-person dance team came out. The duo engaged in a dance battle, going back and forth with one another.
The Malden High cheerleaders and football players came out to lay down mats for their performance. The mascot, Nedlam, led the cheerleaders and some football players onto the mat. They started to dance and perform acrobatic tricks like somersaults and pyramids. The players and cheerleaders then worked together to put away the mats when they finished their performance for the start of the events.
The cheerleaders perform stunts, dances, and cartwheels. JESSICA LI
The four grade teams began setting up and preparing for the first event: basketball free throws. Everyone took turns practicing their shots before the event started. Once it began, each team had two minutes to get as many free throws as possible. Students in sections started cheering for their teams as they made baskets. The juniors were proclaimed as the winner, with twelve baskets made.
Next came the pull-up competition. Boys must attempt as many pull-ups with their heads reaching past the bar to count. The girls must dead-hang without their heads going past the bar for as long as possible. Each grade sent two individuals to represent their team. The juniors won the pull-up competition, while the sophomores won the dead hang.
In the human pyramid event, most teams completed their pyramid orderly, with minimal mistakes. When it was the senior’s turn, they could form a pyramid but collapsed before they passed the three second test. On their second attempt, they successfully built the pyramid and stayed upright for three seconds. However, even with their second attempt, the seniors were not able to beat the juniors for the shortest amount of time to finish.
The fourth event was the over-and-under event with a basketball. The objective was to pass the ball to the back without dropping it. It must be passed under or over, depending on the sequence. If the ball drops, it returns to the front, and the participants start again. In the end, it was very close as a couple of teams managed to finish around the same time, but the sophomores came out with the victory.
After a long day, the tug of war pitted freshmen against sophomores and juniors against seniors. The freshmen fought a tough battle and won. The seniors gave their best but succumbed to the juniors.
At the end of Spirit Day, points were calculated from each grade to determine the winner. Although the seniors usually win, the juniors took first place this year, the first time since the 1990s, followed by the seniors in second, the sophomores in third, and the freshmen in fourth.
