New decade introduces new rally with classes teamed-up to compete
Warning: this is not your average winter rally. On Jan. 22, seniors and freshmen will be teaming up to play the "super villains" while the juniors and sophomores will play the "superheroes" in an epic battle of good vs. evil.
The revolution does not stop there. Jan. 22 will break tradition by bringing back a third purple and gold rally instead of the typical blackout and black light winter rally held in the past few years. To further inter-class teamwork, the seniors and freshmen will don purple attire and the sophomores and juniors, gold. However, according to 2012 Vice President sophomore Christina Aguila, the purple senior shirts and general popularity of purple clothing (in comparison to yellow) brings a landslide advantage to the "super villain" team. To break even, rally judging will be dramatically altered so that overall spirit and unity as opposed to the usual criteria of decorations and shirt colors will play a significant role in the rally’s outcome.
Other changes include new rally games. During the Homecoming rally, only ASB created a game in order to ensure that there will be enough time allotted for for Homecoming court. Now, Spirit Commission is back with its own game and plans on including more participants. Normally, the social manager of each class recruits a few volunteers for the rally games, but for this rally, two social managers will be collaborating to recruit a certain group of students to help involve the entire gym.
"It’s more school-spirited than class-spirited and breaks [the school] up less. It’s not just ‘my class is better than yours,’" Spirit commissioner senior Maayan Cogan said.
A spirit week held before the rally will contribute heavily to rally points as well. Ostensibly bringing back Homecoming memories, a slight twist was added. Continuing the theme of opposites, Tuesday will be "stripes vs. plaid", Wednesday involves "jocks vs. nerds", and Thursday includes "superheroes vs. supervillains." Any student can chose to dress up in either category regardless of class or team during the first three days. Friday, of course, brings "purple vs. gold."
Originally, the rally was set up as "odd classes (2011 and 2013) vs. evens (2010 and 2012)". But the idea was disbanded since the seniors would have been paired with the sophomores who are the "upper" underclassmen and the current reigning rally champions, thus creating an unfair advantage. ASB and Leadership also considered other options, including "red vs. blue," which would be gang-related, and "white vs. black," which could bring negative racial connotations.
Despite these hiccups, excitement is quickly building up. Refreshed with a new experience and eager to win, all the classes have already begun making rally posters and look well-prepared in comparison to the hectic chaos during Homecoming Week.
The revolution has especially revitalized the freshman class. Typically the underdogs, freshmen are now paired up with the top dog seniors.
"For us freshmen, we have someone that we can really look up to when we’re cheering and I think that’ll really help us as a class," 2013 president freshman Cathy Ang said. "The classes for this rally will be able to feed off and support each other."
