The final rally of the year, which was held in the big gym before lunch on Thursday, May 28, continued old traditions while also setting a few new precedents.
Annual end-of-year traditions, such as the obligatory “Cats Are Best” chant was lead by the cheerleaders, followed by various stunts.
The standard finale rally faire was complimented however, by a few new student competitions.
In a balloon fetching contest, a student was placed on a roller and pushed across the middle of the gym, which was filled with balloons. As they passed through, they attempted to collect as many of the balloons as they could. Predictably, the seniors won.
This was followed by a game where students were paired up with their older sibling’s boyfriend or girlfriend.
Freshman Carter Whiting, brother of Griffin Whiting, was a participant. “I was excited being with my brother’s girlfriend [Olga Lukashina]. I figured that it would be a lot of fun,” he said.
Lying on their backs, underclassmen put a glass on top of their faces, and their upperclassmen partners attempted to crack an egg and pour the yolk into the glass while standing on a chair.
Unfortunately for the underclassmen, their partners were not very successful. “I was not happy. I had to change my clothes. It was bad,” Whiting said.
The unique competitions were a highlight for most of the rally-goers. “The games were well-thought out and were clever. I thought that they were good,” sophomore Chris Fleming said.
The rally concluded with the traditional video introducing next year’s spirit commissioners: Jonathan Hughes and Jack Lawrence.
Leadership adviser Dino Petrocco said that both Hughes and Lawrence have the qualities of effective spirit commissioners. “They seem to have a lot of energy. They seem to be connected to the student body. So, hopefully, they will take that energy and connectivity [and become strong spirit commissioners],” he said.
Lawrence said that he is excited for his new position in Leadership. “I look forward to having a really good senior year and having a school that is having a lot of fun, having good rallies, and having a good time,” he said. “I would say that I am loud, school-spirited, and I like to have fun.”
“I look forward to a lot of spirit from the whole school, and a lot of yelling,” Hughes said.
Petrocco hopes that next year’s rallies continue to engage a wider range of students. “Always organization, making sure that we are involving as many different groups from the student population as possible are our goals, are things that we can improve on,” he said.
Hughes agreed: “I am going to get everyone in on everything. Everyone’s going to be loud and we are all going to have a really good time.”
This year’s final rally concluded with each grade moving to their new sitting areas in the gym and both Hughes and Lawrence called roll call for next year’s classes.
According to Petrocco, this is his favorite part of the finale rally. “The fact that we move everyone to their new stations for next year is a very cool tradition,” he said.
Petrocco said that his Leadership students host the rallies throughout the year in order to contribute to the collective consciousness of the student body. “It is the one time during the year that we are all together. We are all together in one spot and experiencing the same moment, and that creates memories,” he said.
