On Feb. 15, crowds of students jostle in front of the gym entrance, eager to attend the first rally in the newly constructed gym. Stepping inside, the freshmen, sophomores and juniors file into their class section of the bleachers, talking animatedly to friends and waving around pom-poms as they wait for the seniors to break through the poster at the start of Winter Rally. The walls behind each section are decorated with posters corresponding to their Avatar element: the class of 2022 being earth, the class of 2021 air, the class of 2020 water and the class of 2019 fire.

The rally featured performances from MVHS Song, Cheer, Marquesas, Bhangra and Raas, as well as junior Madhav Danturthi singing a trilingual mashup of “Mia,” “Better,” “Sunflower,” “Lost in Japan” and “Channa Mereya” and sophomore Cassey Bogdan’s performance of “Turn Around.” The first game consisted of using a leaf blower to push a beach ball across covered buckets. The classes then competed in a three-legged race with balloons, and a race where partners ran back-to-back with arms linked together, with the person in the back blindfolded.

When they announced the winners of the rally, the class of 2019 erupted into cheers and rushed down the bleachers to the middle of the gym, finally achieving a win after their defeat at Homecoming. Click through the photos below to see more.