The stage is set. The players are ready. Ten enter. One victor leaves the ring. The pep rally crowd cheers and at times, jeers. However, this theatrical display is not enough. At least, not yet, according to the pep rally committee.
“We’re trying to raise the stakes,” one member said. “In order to retain engagement, we need to make the games more exciting. Take the Romans, for example. They really knew what they were doing with the Colosseum.”
Research studies conducted on the student population show that increased danger is what students want from next year’s pep rallies. Graphic gore and bodily injury has risen to the No. 3 position for Most Anticipated Aspect Of Pep Rallies.
“We’re thinking of having a rebranding campaign for pep rallies,” an anonymous student involved in pep rally preparation said. “Get this — Falcon Wars. It’s better because the name ‘pep rally’ implies that we’re just trying to have fun and increase school spirit. Falcon Wars implies we’re serious. That these games are a matter of preserving the school’s identity and pitting opponents against each other for sport. This isn’t fun and games. This is life or death.”
Students collaborate with English teachers to use dystopian novels as a muse for designing new pep rally games.
“Of course, this isn’t the Hunger Games, or anything,” one teacher said. “But I don’t see why it can’t be modeled after it. We’re thinking about implementing a new lottery draw to determine who can participate in pep rally games since we’ve been receiving so much demand. But there’s a twist. If you’re called, someone can volunteer as tribute for you. Isn’t that romantic?”
More than anything, students describe that their main goal is building an intense atmosphere in the games. For that to materialize, conditions must be right.
“My favorite part is when they herd us into the bleachers and pack us tightly together like sardines,” a student, who wishes to be anonymous, said. “It makes me feel really connected to the school community and the students around me. Literally.”
This sense of connection increases when students bond over shared “unique” experiences.
“Our next step is to bring wild animals in,” an anonymous pep rally committee member said. “We’re taking inspiration from the Romans, again, here. We really want to up the ante since we’re running out of ideas. Don’t tell anyone else though, okay? Bubble soccer just isn’t cutting it anymore.”
Other students weigh in on the idea of adding more games.
“What I really want to see is a grass-mowing game where we could see who could mow grass the fastest,” a teacher in charge of supervising the pep rally said. “Or wait, we could bring in cows and see how fast students could coerce the cow to eat the grass and mow it.”
While there are some logistical concerns associated with this idea, other suggestions continue flowing from students and staff.
“Imagine we take the pep rally to a whole new location: the pool,” an anonymous student said. “Let’s have synchronized swimming, but inside a bubble! A game of who can put on sunscreen the fastest! Soccer, but in the water—or wait, is that waterpolo?”
Above all, students reiterate the importance of pep rallies for their high school experience.
“Where else are you going to see two students legally allowed to run full speed towards each other with bubble costumes and collide in a sonic boom?” one student said. “Of course, once we add in a lava pit or skydiving, it’ll be way more lit. This is a once in a lifetime experience, people!”
