The games, the cheers, the music, the dances at a classic high school pep rally all start from somewhere. The school doesn’t just “wing it”. There must be practice and schedule in order to make those 30 minutes as entertaining as possible. 

PLHS is having their first pep rally of the year on Friday October 5th, the night of the homecoming game. Many teams and groups of people must prepare for at least a couple weeks, and for some people, it’s no easy task. 

Every grade sits in a certain section of the gym. They are labeled by posters made by the cheerleaders, mainly matching the theme of the homecoming dance. 

“I made a poster for the freshmen class, they will sit under it,” freshman cheerleader Tinley Strittmatter said. “It looks pretty good and I must say that I’m proud of myself,” 

All volleyball, football, and softball varsity athletes preform during the pep rally.  This takes a lot to put together and to learn new skills. The dance team and cheerleaders are responsible for teaching and making up their dances.  

“To prepare, we had to come into school on Sundays to choreograph and clean up the dance,” freshman volleyball player Sam Riggs said.  “We practice for 1-2 hours when we came in,” 

Everyone preforming or helping for the pep rally gets out of fourth period, when everyone else must stay and have the pep rally after class. 

“I will completely miss fourth period to put tape glow sticks on volleyball and softball players for their glow in the dark dance,” Strittmatter said. 

Dancing is different than most sports. Learning different motions and actions can be difficult for new dancers or athletes who have little experience. 

“The hardest part about preparing for the dance is matching the dance moves to specific parts of the song and making specific details,” Riggs said. 

Most of what goes on at pep rallies is fun, and preforming something special is too.  

“I’m most excited for our dance because it’s a glow in the dark,” Riggs said. “but I’m also excited to see what the other teams’ dances are,” 

Every single piece of a high school pep rally starts from somewhere. Whether a cheerleader or a volleyball player, everyone works hard so they can have some fun.