By Cody Connolly

Traditions have always been part of high school and will stand the tests of time. Every school has them, each being vastly or slightly different than the last school. So, what makes the great school of Mount Vernon different from others?

Dressing Up On Game Day

Dressing up in a jeans and jersey is nothing new to the football players as it has been around for a long time, but with a new coach, comes many new ideas. Head coach Lance Pedersen instructed the football players to wear a dress shirt, dress pants, dress shoes and a tie. The feedback from the decision has been positive. Sophomore John Butz says that it “makes you feel as if you know what you need to do” and that he supports the idea. “We look at away games a business trips and when a person is on a business trip they dress-up. I also believe that my players are first class young men and it is important to represent us that way. I live by the rule ‘Look good, feel good, do good’,” said head coach Lance Pedersen.

Shaving Cream Classic

Like the girls and the powderpuff game, the guys get their shot at the other gender’s game: volleyball. The teams are broken up by grade and a special team is made up of the staff members who wish to play. The games are organized as a round robin tournament system and the winning team is decided by the number of wins. Just the same as the powderpuff game, the teams are coached by the girls of the team’s respective grades. In addition, each team’s coaches nominates the team’s most valuable player.

Powderpuff Football

Each year, varsity football players are allowed to sit back in the student section and puts the girls in the lights to play the annual powderpuff football game. Each year, the teams are made of the seniors and sophomores and juniors and freshmen. But, every team needs a coach. The coaches are the football players of the respective grades and coach the teams the plays and call them out to the girls during the game. The game is always the day before the homecoming game unless it gets rained out. One of the closest games score wise happened two years ago, when the game came down to only a safety for the junior and freshman team, winning the game two to zero.

The Jock Lot

This prestigious parking lot is located between the high school and the middle school and houses the trucks, cars and mopeds of mostly the athletes of Mount Vernon and some teachers that have reserved their spots. The main users of this parking lot include the members of the football team and some people who can get there early enough to get a spot. “The lot is great because it is closer to the building and your car is on your way to practice if you left anything in it,” said sophomore Zach Perry.

The Locker Room

Getting a good locker in the locker room is a big deal to most people (especially athletes) and is sometimes a source of arguments between people. In the locker rooms, there are many unspoken rules. The football players and volleyball players get the bigger and better lockers, the freshmen are forced into the corners and have the bottom locker and the upperclassmen get the middle and edge lockers.