Rallies are a fun and integral part of the high school experience, and always seem to lift spirits and excite students. When Campo witnesses cohesive and exciting rallies every couple months, it’s hard to comprehend that the event was planned mostly by their peers. Leadership, and specifically the rally board, puts so much effort into these rallies, and the final product always reflects their hard work. Between the fun events, rally videos, music, and overall energy, the planning is obviously complex.
The preparations start up to two months before, and they plan activities, participants, and all other aspects of the rally as early as they can. “We start planning as early as possible… we’ve kind of learned that the time is very valuable and the rally always creeps up on us,” says Senior Molly Dougherty, a rally leader. “This time we finished our last rally (winter rally) and we went straight into planning for this next one, the march madness rally. We’ve learned from the first few rallies that we’d rather have it done earlier”.
For activities, the rally board discusses a plan and then asks the rest of the leadership class for further ideas: “We also have given opportunities for the student body to give input on activities they want to see or even people they want to see,” says Dougherty. “Sometimes we see things on social media, or what other schools have done and give it our own twist.”
The activities are what makes the rally so special, with a few fun ones including telephone charades or Family Feud. For example, Dougherty continued, “I really enjoyed how we were able to pull off the homecoming proposal because that was super last minute for us… it turned out to be the highlight of the homecoming rally.”
To choose the participants for the rally, the rally leaders “ask around the class, see if anyone knows people from this sports team or this club,” Dougherty explained, “we also send out a google form that has given people the opportunity to say that they want to be in the rally.”
Lils McCarthy, a freshman in leadership further explained, “Especially in the last couple months, we’ve had a lot of requests to be in the rally, so the google form feeds into a running list that we can choose from.” These forms are also linked in QR codes around campus for people to scan and express interest in participating.
Dougherty said, “My favorite rally would definitely have to be the Homecoming rally because the video definitely set the tone and made it fun…it was really exciting.” The next rally is the March Madness Rally, on March 1, 2024. The planning has already begun, almost a month in advance. Show up and support the cougars!
