Good morning Londonderry School Community,

We are writing to clarify a letter that was sent to two team members from each varsity sport for our annual fall pep rally. This is an event at Londonderry High School where we show our school pride and spirit leading into Mack Plaque weekend. Our Pep Rally Aides and Advisor work very hard to prepare a pep rally that acknowledges our student-athletes who are introduced to the floor as they enter the gym team by team, as well as our student-body who proudly wear our school colors of red, white, and blue. The letter that was sent was meant to clarify our expectations for those team introductions. The bullets on the letter provided guidelines and reminders for our varsity teams to have an appropriate entrance.

The fourth bullet point referencing no use of the American flag during team entrance protocol was added out of reverence for the flag, as it was inadvertently mishandled in a past pep rally. United States Military Veterans on our staff at the time expressed concern over proper flag etiquette and standards of respect. The nature of the team entrances does not lend itself to the proper handling of the flag. After teams are introduced, everyone in the gym rises to appropriately honor the American flag which is prominently displayed on our gymnasium wall, as a student sings the National Anthem, which officially starts our pep rally. We hope this information clarifies some of the misconceptions that are circulating in the community.

Sincerely,

Jason Parent
Principal