The first pep rally helps renew the sports spirit at school
“Congratulations to our senior student athletes. I am so blessed to live among so many amazing parents, students, and teachers! Go Sharks!” cheered Mr. Patrick Carroll, the vice principal of SMIC-I, after the success of a renewed tradition, the Pep Rally.
During the eighth period on Tuesday, September 25th, all of the students and faculty of SMIC-I participated in the pep rally at the school gym. Students began to enter the gym during the break after the seventh period. Various American pop songs were booming from the speakers, students were chatting with their friends, and the lively school mascot—the shark—had created a boisterous applaus before the event started.
A pep rally, also known as pep assembly, is a gathering of students typically in middle and high school and college before a sports season or competition. The purpose of a pep rally is to encourage school spirit and cheer for the hard work of the student athletes. A typical pep rally in American schools starts with the performance by cheerleaders. There are also games, competitions with prizes, and choirs singing the national anthem. Similar to traditional pep rallies, the SMIC-I event started when the school dancers jumping into the middle of the crowd to get the student body involved. Listening to the upbeat songs, the students watched their performances and cheered for the dancers.
Apart from encouraging school spirit, the SMIC-I’s pep rally has another purpose, to celebrate the newly constructed gym. During the summer vacation, many areas of the SMIC-I campus, including the gym, were renovated and updated.
After watching the performance, the crowd became silent when Dr. Jack Chou, the chancellor of the school, started giving his speech about his experience as a soccer player soccer in high school. He stated that even though he was not a born athlete, he endeavored to improve his skill and eventually overcame this obstacle. He then emphasized the importance of encouraging other people and working hard to achieve a goal. The speech ended with hearty applause from students and teachers.
The atmosphere of the pep rally changed from serious to festive when Ms. Kimberly Grace took charge of the rest of the event. With a loud and passionate voice, she called senior athletes from the cross country team: Luke Chong, Dean Hu and varsity volleyball teams: Alan Wu, Michael Lee, Jason Qiu, Brian Sai, Humbert Lee, Sophie Chao, Jane Gao, Julianne Pan, Hannah Lee, and Olivia Lu. After standing in front of the crowd, the athletes had received the cheers and applause from the students.
“I felt honored to stand in front of everyone but it also made me [realize] that my time as a student athlete in SMIC-I is about to end soon,” said Sophie Chao (12C).
“I think our cross country team this year is quite strong. Some of our runners are really fast and all of them work extremely hard, coming out to run everyday. To the underclassmen, I would encourage them to keep running, keep training, or to put it simply, live and breathe track,” said Luke Chong (12A).
Last but not least, the senior athletes from the varsity volleyball teams were asked to play against the teachers. Both teams stood at the opposite side of the court and the competition began when the senior started to spike the ball to the other side of the net. Although the teachers were in the lead in the beginning, the seniors won the game at the end.
The pep rally in the SMIC gym was a big success. Mr. Patrick Carroll also stated that this is the first pep rally in more than ten years, which gives importance to the school community by allowing the student body to cherish sportsmanship and school spirit.
Featured Image – Varsity Volleyball Senior Athletes courtesy of Erin Chang (12C)