With the school year underway and the fall sports season in full swing, a second pep rally welcomed everyone back into the James Healey Gymnasium on Friday, Sept. 8.
Unlike the first pep rally during which students were seated by grade, this time they were assembled according to their Benjamin color team: Orange or Blue. Because the Orange team won the most recent competition, its members were seated on the junior-senior side of the gym, while the blue team’s crowd was on the freshman-sophomore side.
The pep rally began with a performance by the Dazzlers dance team and then transitioned into announcements from each fall sport. The captains of the bowling, cross country, swim, golf, and football teams summarized their successful seasons so far and let students know when their next game would be.
The Dazzlers then performed another dance to a mashup of popular hits, getting everyone excited and pumped up for the game of the week: Hungry, Hungry Hippos.
Sophomore Dazzler Bryce Seger enjoyed performing for her school and boosting school spirit. “My favorite part about the pep rally was dancing in front of the upper school because they always get super hyped up and loud during our kickline which is my favorite part of our dances. It’s so nice to feel the support and see the whole community come together in their orange and blue,” Segar said.
After the Dazzlers’ performance, student council president Maggie Smith, and vice-president, Hudson Bryne helped explain the Hungry, Hungry Hippos game. They asked twenty students from each team to compete for points for their team.
“Planning a pep rally can be difficult because you have to take into account everyone’s different schedules. I have to manage the short assembly time that we have, and get as much into it as I can, making sure to include all of the different opportunities we have at Benjamin,” Smith explained.
The Orange team continued its winning streak from last year with its 31-29 victory in Hungry, Hungry Hippos.
Sophomore Liam Duffy had a great time playing this game and loved the excitement it brought to the pep rally. “My favorite part of the pep rally was the Hungry-Hungry Hippos game because it was funny to see all of my friends try to put the balloons in the bucket. It was so nice to see everyone from freshmen to seniors happy, and cheering for their team,” Duffy expressed.
Junior Emily Simon had a great time at the pep rally as well and felt that it was the perfect way to get people pumped up for the big football game that night. “I thought that the pep rally was a great way for all of us to just see our friends, have a nice break from the school day, and just play fun games together. Everyone got really hyped up and I thought that it was a great event to have before the game versus Clearwater,” Simon said.
Overall, the pep rally seemed to be a great success among students as it helped foster a new sense of community between all grades and got everyone excited for the upcoming year-long Blue vs. Orange competition.
