On Oct. 21, Justice High School held its annual home­com­ing pep rally. During the pep rally, students from all grades come together to show their school spirit and cele­brate home­com­ing. The home­com­ing games this year consisted of musi­cal chairs and popping balloons with chest bumps. The varsity cheer team also put on a perfor­mance for students. Most impor­tantly though, each class gets to compete for the spirit stick. The spirit stick is awarded to the class who earned the most points through spirit week: by dress­ing up for spirit days, winning lunch­room games, and cheer­ing at the pep rally. Sopho­more Colin Buck­horn loved the spirit that was shown at the pep rally. “[The pep rally] is amaz­ing. I love the energy and the atmos­phere,” said Buckhorn. 

Despite how excit­ing the pep rally is, it takes extreme plan­ning and prepa­ra­tion. Student Govern­ment Asso­ci­a­tion (SGA) Exec­u­tive Pres­i­dent and senior Lauren Lai puts loads of effort into the pep rally. Lai and the SGA break up into commit­tees to help set up the pep rally. Lai’s job as the Exec­u­tive Pres­i­dent is to help direct and over­see commit­tees that set up the games for the pep rally. When asked what Lai herself would be doing at the pep rally, she said she would be “down on the floor speak­ing and help­ing students.” 

While the pep rally is mainly focused on school spirit and the students, it is also a time for teach­ers to relax and join in on the fun. World History teacher Jacob Fritsch attended his first pep rally this year. Although Fritsch said that he would not be help­ing set up the pep rally, “there are a number of teach­ers that do help set up,” said Fritsch. 

The pep rally is an oppor­tu­nity for students of all grades to come together and show spirit for Justice. “I was glad to see the crowd was into [the pep rally],” said Fritsch. “The crowd was engaged and chant­ing.” All in all, the pep rally was a memo­rable expe­ri­ence for both staff and students.