Sparking both school and holiday spirit, this year’s winter pep rally brought students and staff together on the final day before break. For the remainder of the day, the halls were buzzing with chatter about the pep rally and the new games introduced.
Held on Dec. 23, the event consisted of holiday-based games and challenges, along with highlighting the winter sports teams, the band, drum line, the Lancer Twirlers, the Lancer Dancers and more.
The pep rally team worked many hours to coordinate the activities and games provided.
History teacher Brian Courtemanche, who is also the Pep Rally Team adviser, has held prominent roles in multiple clubs and teams, but “there is nothing that I have worked harder at than [the pep rally team].”
When Courtemanche first took over the club, “there were a small number of members, but now there are [around] 40 kids involved, and they deserve a ton of credit for how hard they work.”
Pep rally co-hosts, seniors Graham Killelea, Evan Raymond, Olivia Brooks and Lindsay LaBossiere “all do great work,” according to Courtemanche, when organizing games and activities and running interviews during the pep rally.
“Prepping for the pep rally includes multiple meetings with the whole team as well as ones between the four co-hosts,” Brooks said.
According to Killelea, the setup process “takes a lot of work to get everything together for all the things that we do.” With that being said, the work this team puts in pays off, which is shown by an increase in student popularity.
“The attendance has changed a ton and I think that is because of how entertaining the group makes it,” Killelea said.
According to Raymond, the pep rally team is “trying to do different games and events at every pep rally, so students have new things to look forward to.”
“I believe the pep rallies over the last four years have evolved and become more interactive,” Raymond said. “We try to incorporate more interactive games for students and the teams. I believe the leading cause of this is Mr. Courtamanche’s guidance and teachings that help make the pep rally what it is today.”Similar to Raymond, Brooks attributes the source of increased student involvement to be “definitely Mr. Courtemanche and how he completely turned pep rallies in another direction.”
“His commitment to this team has been so inspiring to all of us, and we are so grateful to have him as our guide and role model,” Brooks said.
Though today’s pep rally “went really well,” the team has only just gotten started.
“The next pep rally will include a game that’s going to be the best one yet,” Brooks said. “I’m looking forward to seeing all the student involvement with this one.”
With planning for the next pep rally already underway, “everyone should look forward to it because it’s gonna be really fun and will mean a lot,” according to Killelea.
Students will be competing for their entire grade to win a Benny Jerry’s ice cream truck. According to Courtemanche, representing their grade and winning the competition will be “such an honor” for students, so he is going to have a “special kind of challenge.”
“It’ll be elaborate,” Courtemanche said. “There will be a lot to it, but our champions are hopefully going to really represent the school and bring the pep.”
