Standing with tradition, the day of the homecoming game always consists of a pep rally to promote school spirit for the upcoming game and dance that weekend. On Sept. 21, the day of the O.C. University homecoming football game, the Leadership class planned an action packed pep rally with appearances of many beloved school traditions to hype up the student body.

The Leadership class plans multiple pep rallies throughout the school year to enhance school pride. Each pep rally is distinguishably different as each one has something unique about it. The homecoming pep rally is always a favorite among many students because of the senior and junior powderpuff cheerleaders’ elaborate routine performances. Both the juniors and seniors got the crowd roaring with their creative stunts, funny dance moves, and tumbling.

“I really like playing all of our songs for all of the students and just enjoy being with the band and dancing around while having fun with everybody,” junior and french horn player Cassie Muse said. “My favorite part was probably the powderpuff cheerleaders. It was really funny.”

While the powderpuff cheerleaders were a fan favorite during the pep rally, many other activities and performances took place. Including the announcing of all fall sports, a sophomore versus seniors tug-of-war rematch that ended with redemption for the seniors, performances by the varsity cheerleaders and the Sparklers dance team, and the revisitation of a longtime tradition that the seniors won, the spirit stick. Although their identities are anonymous to the student body, the Brantley Boys made an entrance by walking out in a cardboard bus and put out a lively routine filled with lots of dancing.

“The Brantley Boys’ favorite part of the pep rallies are going out there, doing wacky things and making the crowd have some fun,” the Brantley Boys as a group said. “We love to entertain and have fun doing it. It’s so awesome to know that you made at least a couple people smile.”

Leadership students work behind the scenes to make sure that the pep rallies run smoothly and that they are packed to the brim with a schedule filled of exciting events. Lots of planning allows these events to continue to be a special tradition. After winning tryouts, senior Leadership students Trinity Hartman and Will Kealing are the 2018-2019 school year emcees. The homecoming pep rally allowed them to think of witty comments on their feet to make during the event that would engage the crowd. As the spirit stick tradition had a revival during this pep rally, both Hartman and Kealing tried to motivate the crowd to participate in the new activity.

“I loved getting everyone excited and hyped up during the pep rallies, being able to do it how I felt it always should,” Kealing said. “The homecoming pep rally was probably the same amount of fun for me even just because I was limited to what I could do but I feel it went really well.”