With pep rallies such as the Pack the Place assembly last Friday, Central aims at raising positivity; however, these pep rallies have only displayed the student body’s lack of school spirit.
Many students don’t feel like the pep rallies do much to raise school spirit. “I honestly think they’re a waste of time,” said Naveen Balagi, junior. And I don’t see many other kids getting encouraged with school spirit at the pep rallies.”
And this response is mirrored in the behavior in the pep rallies. The behavior at the last three pep rallies has been poor and rowdy. Students often boo faculty members and other students, and mildly cheer the events at the rallies. The behavior was so bad that one of the pep rallies, students refused to leave their seats as the bell rang, leaving staff members to call for an on the spot “mosh pit” where students herded down from the stands into the middle of the gym.
At this point it seems as though if the negativity at the pep assemblies has gotten so bad that it is overshadowing the school spirit that pep rallies are supposed to encourage. “I heard more people booing the freshmen and the events than people actually cheering for the teachers and other kids,” said Collin Maloney, junior.
In terms of raising school spirit, the pep rallies seem to be what Central is relying on. The “dress days” for this week were a result of the Pack the Place assembly in which students are supposed to where red and white on Friday to show school spirit.
However, it’s apparent that we don’t have school spirit as displayed by the way we act at the pep assemblies, and the pep assemblies have done little to encourage it. While the solution to the problem is too complicated for me and a lot of people to figure out, it needs to be something—other than the pep rallies—that makes students proud to show school spirit.
