On Friday, March 21st, during the Pep Rally, Principal Blake Bennett, standing on a pink staircase platform, looked into assistant principal Teneisha Finney’s eyes across the gym while they sang “Defying Gravity” from the “Wicked” soundtrack, capping off Spirit Week 2025. The gym echoed in sound from speakers and student screams, and Spring Break began less than an hour afterward. 

The Changes

This year, the Pep Rally had a few differences from previous years. The event included more games and a longer schedule, taking place at the end of Friday instead of the beginning of the day. Instead of the Multicultural Show happening Friday afternoon, it took place on Thursday. Instead of the Pep Rally, the Lip Dub was on the morning of Friday.

“This year, since the Lip Dub had a ‘High School Musical’ theme, it would have been kind of bizarre if we were dressed up on some of the other days of the week,” Principal Bennett said. “So we felt like, with the Lip Dub theme, it really lent itself to wearing the school color shirt and the Pep Rally. So we moved the Lip Dub to the morning and then did the Pep Rally (later in the day).”

Despite the changes, Principal Bennett said she considered this year’s Pep Rally one of the best.

“Every year, I’m like, ‘How does Spirit Week get better?’” Principal Bennett said. “I really think this year was even better than last year.  And I don’t know how they (Pep Rallies) get more fun every year.”

The Games

Due to the extended time this year, the Pep Rally had time for more games than usual. New games, such as the superhero obstacle course and a mattress sliding game, were introduced, as well as repeated games such as free throw competitions and musical chairs. In the superhero obstacle course contest specifically, students had to win a relay race with a partner while facing several challenges. First, they had to tie a cape around their neck. Then, they had to dive into an empty kiddie pool for a mask corresponding to their class color before spinning around with a bat five times. Following that, the partners switched places, with the other player having to jump hurdles and pop three balloons by sitting down on them before running back to the start line, ending the race.

“I’m a little disappointed (in placing second in the game) because the time we went against the seniors, the game felt a little rigged because the cape was already pre-tied,” superhero obstacle course contest participant and digital media sophomore Shalin Patel said. “It was too small for me to put it on my head, and that kind of messed us up.”

In games, the freshmen, juniors, and seniors tied in wins with each grade winning twice. The freshmen had their victories in both basketball games, the three-point shootout and free throw shootout. The seniors won musical chairs and the superhero obstacle course. The juniors won the mattress sliding contest and the queen’s request game. The sophomores, on the other hand, came in last, with no games won.

“I got really dizzy at the end because the circle was really small, but it was pretty fun,” strings junior Lily McDow, who placed second in musical chairs, said. “I’m disappointed I didn’t win, but we’ll definitely win next year.”

During the second and last games of the Pep Rally, the free throw and three-point contests, brothers strings freshman Jayden Bai and piano senior Jeffrey Bai competed against each other in the final rounds of each game for the win. In both competitions, Jayden, the younger brother, won.

“May the better man win, fair and square,” Jeffrey said about his loss to his brother. “He’s a good shooter, but he’s a product of me. I trained him.”

The three-point contest, as opposed to the free throw contest, was impromptu, with it being an extra game added in between the class dances and the staff dances. Classes volunteered their own players, who did not know they were going to be participating.

“The threes (three-point shooting contest) were unexpected,” Jeffrey said. “I was a little apprehensive about checking into that one because I’m not the best three-point shooter, but it was so much fun.”

The Class Dances

Each class choreographed a dance that coordinated to their class theme for superhero day (freshmen being Superman, sophomores being Hulk, juniors being Spider-Man, and seniors being Black Panther). Amongst all the dances, which consisted primarily of hip-hop music, namely by artists like Nicki Minaj, Kendrick Lamar, and Beyoncé, the seniors ended up winning, with the sophomores, juniors, and freshmen trailing behind them in order.

“It felt like just yesterday we were in the sophomore section winning our Pep Rally dance, and it’s so great to be back and finish it out with a bang (for) our last year,” choreographer and dance senior Emmy Esquivel said. “We know we deserve to win, and we felt it in our hearts. The moment they announced the seniors winning, tears started right away.”

The seniors’ dance consisted of skits replicating the Black Panther movie franchise, songs from the soundtracks of the movies, and even a student donning a Black Panther mask.

“It felt so good to dance with a lot of people for the last time,” choreographer and dance senior Jasmine Rivera-Lillis said. “Choreographing was a long process, but we always have fun doing it every year.”

The Staff Dance Defies Gravity

The final event of the Pep Rally, and Spirit Week as a whole, was the staff dance, which started with select seniors and staff dancing to modern music by artists like Bad Bunny and Kendrick Lamar. Then, Principal Bennett was rolled out on top of a pink staircase, dressed as Glinda from the Broadway musical-turned movie “Wicked.” Ms. Finney, on the opposite side of the gym standing on a black staircase, was dressed as Elphaba, another “Wicked” character.

“It’s really fun to practice and learn something new with your colleagues,”Principal Bennett said. “We laugh so hard when we do it (the dance). It’s a really fun time for us, so just like you guys are practicing, and you feel that energy, we get to do that too as adults. It makes it fun.”

The staff dance was choreographed by dance teacher Garry Q. Lewis, who was in off-Broadway productions of “The Wiz,” which is a spin-off of “The Wizard of Oz,” like “Wicked.” Although Mr. Lewis couldn’t attend the Pep Rally, Principal Bennett ended the staff dance by dedicating it to him.

“The really cool part of our story, and why it’s (a) special thing to Mr. Garry Q Lewis, (is) he actually played the Scarecrow in ‘(The) Wiz’ off-Broadway for almost two years,” Principal Bennett said. “He choreographed all of this, and we, of course, wanted to do ‘Wicked’ because it’s so timely.”