[HPFGU-OTChatter] Pep Rallys ?

[Jennifer Boggess Ramon]

At 10:40 PM +0100 7/5/03, Pinguthegreek wrote:
>Hi everyone....
>
>I'm just watching the start of Varsity Blues.  I just wondered, are 
>pep rallies for real or do people really get enthusiatic ?

Oh, yes.  Especially where American-style football (with the shoulder 
pads and the pointy-ended ball) is a big topic of conversation - 
large parts of the South, the Midwest, and almost all of Texas, for 
example.

Some schools throw pep rallies for other sports (basketball and 
baseball, especially right before a title game), but the traditional 
pep rally is right before a football game.  In the South, they're 
usually held right before each game; in other places, it might only 
be for homecoming and the last game of the season.

The first high school I attended (in Mississippi) had mandatory pep 
rallies - each class was shortened by five minutes, and we had a 
half-hour of pep rally in the the gym at the end of the day.  The 
band played a few songs, the cheerleaders cheered, the football 
players strutted around and led a chant of Words of Two Syllables Or 
Less, and the students sat in the stands and made a lot of noise 
because the day was almost over.  Once, for the big game against our 
crosstown rival, one of the assistant principals dressed in a 
military uniform and slew a stuffed animal.

My second high school was a math and science academy, without a 
football team, so we didn't have many pep rallies.  We did have one 
for our track team, during which we all dressed in our lab coats and 
threw pencils at each other; it was not a great success, and was not 
repeated.  We had better things to do than worry about 'school 
spirit'.

The high school I currently teach at has optional pep rallies before 
school on the days of games.  I've never been to one, but I am given 
to understand that the step club, band, orchestra, cheerleading 
squad, drill team, dance squad, and football team have been known to 
perform.  Once a year a group of teachers performs as a drill team 
for a pep rally, usually for the game against our cross-district 
rival.  This seems at least marginally healthier than slaying a 
stuffed animal.  Since attendance is optional and they don't get out 
of class for it, the students don't seem to care as much as the ones 
from my school, but the ones who do choose to go are pretty 
enthusiastic - at least, they arrive at my class out of breath.


>What is the tradition of them and is there a set pattern of what 
>happens at them ?

They're intended to get the team "psyched up" for the game.  The 
pattern depends on the school, although you can usually assume that 
students will sit in bleachers, the team will make an appearance at 
some point, and the cheerleaders will lead the students in various 
cheers.  If the school had a band, the band will usually play the 
fight song and the cheerleaders will try to get the students to sing 
along.


-- 

  - Boggles, aka J. C. B. Ramon			boggles(at)earthlink.net
"It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the 
act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment. "
	- Gauss, in a Letter to Bolyai, 1808.