Loud, sweaty and fun – like last year, this year’s pep rallies will include most of the same things, just not the sweat.

 At the class assemblies the first week of school, principal Robert Frasca announced that pep rallies would be transitioning back inside for the start of the school year. Pep rallies were moved outdoors in early 2020 at the beginning of COVID-19. 

“We’ve always wanted to do the pep rallies inside, and for the last few years we just couldn’t,” Frasca said. 

Most students have never experienced the spirit of an indoor pep rally, only the seniors who were here as freshman. The return of pep rallies has been long awaited by administration and students. 

“Glad to be back doing what we used to and get some sense of normalcy,” pep rally host and history teacher Matthew Malkovich said.

Due to the increasing number of students in this year’s freshman class, administration is working to adjust indoor pep rallies to fit the school’s population. 

“We need to know what this is going to look like and kind of adjust on the fly. [Since] we’re moving back to the end of the day, we will see students leave and not come back, so that might help us fit everyone,” Frasca said.

Each pep rally has games, performances, cheers and the battle for the spirit stick, where each class competes to see which is the loudest and most spirited. The winning class earns the spirit stick until the next pep rally. Although not required, each class is encouraged to wear their class color: freshmen wear white, sophomores silver, juniors blue, and seniors black. 

Friday’s pep rally will begin at 1:42 and will last until the end of the school day. Freshman will stand in the right section of the larger bleachers, sophomores in the middle section and juniors will stand in the far section, while seniors will stand in the smaller bleachers on the opposite side. 

In preparation for the transition to indoor pep rallies, many groups have worked since the start of school to nail their performances, according to cheerleader and senior Ruby Issacs. 

“[We have been] practicing coming up with the routine [to perform] and working hard on our stunts and tumbling,” Issacs said.  

As of now, all future pep rallies except for the homecoming glow-in-the-dark pep rally will be held in the competition gym. The homecoming pep rally will still be outside and hosted at night similar to the one last year. In the future, the duration of pep rallies may change but, to best accommodate the beginning of the year, Friday’s pep rally will be 40 minutes long.