Cheers from every side shake the bleachers. As the 2017 Vegas-themed winter rally comes to an end, a sea of cornsilk gold flows out of the gym along with the students. The class of 2018 has won their first rally — out of pure luck. Juniors stare at each other out of shock and excitement as they celebrate their victory on the gym floors.

This year’s winter rally strayed from the norm; MVHS hosted a lottery rally, with each class earning balls in a basket based on their rankings in the classic rally activities. A certain number of balls, corresponding to each class’s color, would be put in the basket based on each class’s rank in each category or game. First place would get the most of balls and fourth place would get the fewest balls. At the end of the rally, one of those balls was then randomly be picked out of a basket by principal April Scott, and its colors determined the winner.

Beginning of the rally:

Each class files into the gym and starts bringing up the energy by chanting the “How-do-you-feel” and the 15-second cheer.

Golden Card:

In the first rally game, each player had to flip over cards, blindfolded, until their partner saw a golden card. Then the second player, wearing various loose clothing items, had to run to the middle and shake them off. The first one to run back won.

Skee Ball Frisbee Toss:

During the second rally game, a player threw a Frisbee towards another player in the middle who had to knock the frisbee into a group of trash cans. Different trash cans had different point values. When time ran out, the team with the most frisbees in the trashcans won.

Relay:

In the third rally game, a player had to guide a beach ball using pool sticks in order to knock over a giant card, then roll a die to determine how far they would have to go with a cocktail tray carrying cups. When they got back, another player waiting with red cups would stack them as fast as they could. Whichever team finished first won.

Marquesas’ performance:

The MVHS dance team, Marquesas, performed a high-spirited dance to a remix of Beyonce’s “Run the World” that lifted the spirits of the crowd.

Teachers’ dance:

Teachers danced to “24K Magic” by Bruno Mars, garnering many cheers from the students. Their energetic performance captivated the audience, who were cheering their favorite teachers on.

The result:

Principal April Scott randomly picked a ball out of the basket. She picked a yellow ball—the Class of 2018 had won. The juniors celebrated their win by rushing and crowding in the middle of the gym, waving their pompoms in the air.

Click through the Flickr gallery for photos of the rally:

Video by Aanchal Garg, Katerina Pappas and Ananya Bhat
Photos by Ilena Peng