Pepping again in person

Rider High School is back to having pep rallies this year after the coronavirus caused them to be virtual last year.

Cheer coach Ashtyn Huff expects Friday afternoon’s pep rally to be a fun one with a surprise. The theme is Color Wars, with grades each wearing a different neon color. 

Huff is the new head cheer coach after being the JV coach last year. She has been doing cheer since high school so she has experience by her side.

Huff has years of experience to pull from, having been a cheerleader since her high school days. She anticipates that Friday’s pep rally will be a fun one with a surprise. 

“This year we are going to have quite a few changes,” Huff said. “We actually get to have a pep rally this year and we’re changing it up for the new schools coming up. But we’re going to make the pep rally more interactive for the entire student body.”

One change to note is that class yells will no longer be incorporated, since freshmen will not be graduating from here. The hope, of course, is that freshmen will still leave with fond memories of Rider High School.  

“We have been preparing, talking to different teachers and getting different student activities involved,” Huff said. “They have been planning for a secret and waiting for that to come up.”

Huff said her varsity cheerleaders have been prepping a few hours a week for the pep rally to make it enjoyable. There is also a pep rally scheduled for next Friday (Sept. 10). 

Sophomore Kaine Johnson is interested in the pep rally this year and is prepared to finally have one after missing out his freshman year. 

“I’m really excited to watch the pep rally,” Johnson said. “We didn’t get to have our morale boosted last year, but I’m hopeful that they will make it much more interactive than my middle school pep rally.”

Sophomore Tori King is wondering about how the pep rally will happen, especially when coronavirus is still present and can affect students to this day.

“Well I think that the pep rally will be fun to attend,” King said. “People who skip that day will be missing out, especially when one of my teachers told me there’s a surprise during the pep rally. That really makes me interested and not skip that day.” 

Another thing that’s different is that tryouts are being held for seniors to see who will be this year’s Master of Ceremonies. It is unknown if there will be an MC this week.

Assistant Principal Falesha Wood is looking forward to Friday’s pep rally and the positive interaction between students and staff. 

“I’m excited this year and hope to revamp our pep rally and involve the crowd, mostly kids, which makes me excited,” Wood said. 

Wood has concerns about the coronavirus in general, but wants kids to enjoy their time and enjoy the rally and make it remarkable. 

“About the coronavirus, pep rallies are no different than the student body walking down the hallway,” Wood said. “I’m not worried. Our kids are good about wearing masks to not spread it and help. 

“We have a secret that we’ve been planning to spring on the students and hopefully make it enjoyable since we were not able to do it in the past. Personally, I think they have been boring in the past.”