You can feel the upbeat energy in the room from the elementary school students’ piercing screams, middle schoolers’ feet stomping in the bleachers, and the high school students’ yells over the noise to their friends echoing together in the crowded high school gym. The band begins playing the fight song, and the audience claps along. Students throughout the school district look forward to the yearly Homecoming pep assembly.
The afternoon kicked off with the school Activities Director Matt Thede announcing the various games that are put together for the students to participate in. Nine students were chosen for the first game, three from the varsity volleyball team, three from the girls varsity cross country team, and three from the varsity football team. The goal was to run and slide onto an air mattress, to get past a certain line first. When the whistle blew, both teams were off to strong starts. The football team beat the others by only a few seconds.
Another game that was enjoyed was throwing marshmallows. There were two teams: cast members of the fall play, and cheerleaders. Each team consisted of four people who were partnered up with each other and then had to throw three marshmallows into their teammate’s mouth. Senior Brandy Hills was one of the participants on the cheer team. “I loved participating in the marshmallow contest,” Hills stated. “There was pressure, but at the same time, it’s not a huge deal. It was really fun, especially doing it with other cheerleaders.” The contest was neck and neck, but when the fall theater players successfully got the last marshmallow, the claps and yells in the gym became thunderous.
One more greatly enjoyed game was the teacher’s participation in a “slang” competition. Two teachers from each school were chosen to guess what a modern slang word meant. Ed and Stephanie Timm were selected for the high school, Brett Moorman and Abby Moss from the middle school, and Tierney Rowe and Robin Brand from the elementary school. A few of the difficult words had them stumped, like “rizz,” “skibidi” and “sigma,” and the audience laughed at the guesses. Each team held its own, but the Timms came out on top with the most slang knowledge.
The band closed with the fight song, which was very loud and uplifting. “It was just really cool-sounding, with the sound bouncing off the walls in the gym,” junior trumpet player Riah Koster said. “It’s just fun to be part of the band and the loud sound.”
With the school district excited and ready for the game that night, the students dispersed and were ready to take on their opponents.
