The pep rally occurred after sixth hour at North Campus, and occurred after tenth hour at South Campus. The pep rallies were created to get the students pumped up for Homecoming, which would take place in the North Campus gym the following day, on October 1st. Both pep rallies included activities such as lip sync battles, student against teachers basketball game, performance by the Hawkettes, and a performance of a mash up of Pitch Perfect songs by the Broadway Company.

In contrast to the North Campus pep rally, the South Campus pep rally had different students and teachers participate in the game, and there was performances by different people in the lip sync battle.

For the basketball game at North, the teachers came out in triumph with a score of 48-40. Heidi Hamilton, a special education teacher and the referee of the game at North, says, “After the halftime, the students cheated and added 15 points to the scoreboard.”

Meanwhile, at South, the score was closer, with the teachers clinching the win 24 to 25.

During the lip sync battle at North, there was a group of basketball girls who lip synced a mashup. This group consisted of senior Dominique Fortune, senior Cara Engelking, junior Karina Smits, junior Karissa Hucke, senior Grace Gilmore, and senior Liz Erdmann. The judges of this competition were the audience, and whichever group got the loudest cheer was the winner. In tight competition with Jenna Nielsen, Mattie Kujawski, Sophie Tiahnybik, and Megan Olshanski, the basketball ladies pulled out the win.

Samantha Jo Heinitz, a senior at Arrowhead, is a part of Broadway Company, and her group performed an acapella mashup of Pitch Perfect songs. She says that the students at South campus were  “much more misbehaved and loud, but they had just as much energy, if not more, than the North kids.”

Heinitz says, “At South, it was smaller, so our performance went better since we could hear each other, and it was less nerve-wracking since it was in front of people I didn’t know, rather than my peers [or] friends.”  

“During the South Campus performance, the Broadway Company sang in a completely different key,” says Heinitz “because we couldn’t hear each other. But we still managed to sing it in the right key.”

Heinitz says her favorite part of the pep rally was the lip sync battle, and she “personally enjoyed the basketball girls because they were more put together and had fun songs.”

Fortune says, “South was louder because the gym was smaller so the acoustics helped, but both campuses were amazing.”

Despite both campuses being “amazing” in her eyes, Fortune says, “I would definitely rather be at South because the gym is smaller so I would have a better view.”

Fortune says she “messed up a turn at North and my friend Cara saw it, so we started laughing during the dance.” She said her favorite part of both pep rallies was watching the Hawkettes perform because “they are all so talented and fun to watch.”

Alexa Holland, who was the announcer of both the North and South Campus pep rallies, says, “No major mistakes were made this year. I worked hard to inform everyone ahead of time about the schedule and how everything needed to be ran.”

Holland says, “I enjoyed performing at the North pep rally better because everyone was more into the activities that were being put on, but the South one is still a lot of fun as well and easier to run and talk at, due to the fact that it is after the North one so all the kinks are worked out.”

Holland says her favorite lip sync performances were Ice Ice Baby, run by Taylor Tomich, a sophomore, and the performances run by Fortune and Kujawski who performed at North Campus.

Holland says her favorite part about both of the pep rallies were the lip sync battles because “the students got so into it. It was fun to see them let themselves step outside of their comfort level and have some fun.” Holland is an active member in the Student Senate and says “Being an Arrowhead student is a lot of fun and very inclusive. There is always opportunities to lead and have fun as long as you take them.”