Petreas, Renno Win “Besties” Challenge at Final Rally
May 24, 2018
A spirited good-bye to the 2018 school year, the end-of-year rally included a rap battle, a balloon popping contest and the annual senior exit. The event was held during the 2nd half of the Academy period on May 18 in the gym.
Senior Claire Meniktas and sophomore Rex Curtis participated in the rap battle, performing pre-written lyrics for the student body. According to Meniktas, she wasn’t concerned about her performance. “I don’t get too nervous,” she said. “I don’t rap, so it doesn’t matter if it’s awful.”
However, she did have some issues writing her rap, saying she, “didn’t know what the vibes were.” Curtis was determined to be the champion based on audience applause.
The 2nd activity was a challenge where a pair of best friends from each grade answered questions to see which person knew the other the best. Teachers Tom Renno and Petro Petreas also participated in the challenge and walked away as the winning duo.
Petreas credited their long friendship. “Our friendship stems from having worked together for 12 years, and we still have about 25 to go…high school friendships just can’t compete with that,” he said, adding that “it felt really good to beat the students.”
Renno said, “It was fun to have an opportunity to finally show off all the important knowledge I’ve gained about Mr. Petreas… it gave me an excuse to dress up like him and wear a flannel.” Participants in the activity also exchanged clothing.
There was also a balloon popping competition where a group of students tied balloons to their ankles and tried to stomp on each other’s balloons.
Senior Emma Wiley, who had played this game before, adopted a strategy for the game. “By the end my balloon had just fallen off, which I didn’t realize had happened. So by the end people were just going for getting the balloon to fall off instead of actually popping it because that was way easier… I think it was a little bit anti-climatic… but I thought it was fun,” she said.
Near the end of the rally, leadership showed a slideshow of the highlights of the school year including academics, sports, clubs, and other extracurriculars.
The rally ended with the seniors leaving the gym while the remaining students moved from the bleacher spot of their current grade to the bleacher location of the grade they will be in next year.