On August 26, 2022, Birmingham had their first pep rally of the school year, commemorating the start of the new school year and the Back to School Dance. The theme of this pep rally was “Glow in the Dark,” and it featured two different teams going head to head in challenges: Team Gold and Team Blue. Team Gold was led by Felix Escobar (12) while Team Blue was led by Ethenn Murrietta (12).

The pep rally was hosted by our wonderful ASB members and the main host of the morning and afternoon was Samantha Zuniga (11). Not only was this pep rally amazing, but it was also well-organized, having two separate sides and each grade level attending different periods. Freshmen went 1st period, sophomores went 2nd, seniors went 3rd, and finally, juniors went 4th.

The pep rally began early in the morning with many students anxiously awaiting entrance into the main gym. There were many special performances during this Glow pep rally including Cheer, Varsity Dance, Marching Band, Colorguard, Chambers, and even our very own football team during 1st period with the freshman.

ASB also had many games to play, including “finishing the lyric,” “hungry hippo,” “hula-hoop,” “rock paper scissors,” and “tug of war.” These challenges had members of both teams go up against each other to win some amazing prizes, including Birmingham merch.

The decorations for this Glow pep rally were what really popped out to me: from the balloons to the streamers, the fairy lights, and the big posters on both sides of the gym reading Team Blue and Team Gold. You can tell ASB members worked very hard–so props to them for having a very successful event! They also gave out amazing glow bracelets before walking into the pep rally that represented what side you were on–which I thought was really cool and smart. I enjoyed myself and had a fun time, it was certainly the best way to end the day on a Friday!

I asked students from each grade what they thought about the pep rally and what they liked and here’s what they said.

Sophia Alfaro (9): “I really liked the music and the dance performance. The theme was so pretty and the bracelets were really cool too.”

Olivia Akhidenor (10): “It was nice and very fun, and I liked how they made us have glowing bracelets and how the gym was decorated.”

Diana Celina Gil (11): ” I liked the games they played. It was fun to watch the students go up and play.  I also really enjoyed the games they played with the crowd but overall, I never had experienced a pep rally before, so I thought it was a cool experience.”

Mona Grey Bryant (12): “I thought that it was well-executed seeing as I had to dance at the pep rally, I didn’t get to see all of it, but the parts that I did see, like the games, the band, and choir were all nice!”