While Ridge High School would never lose its “pep,” it has this year lost its “rally.”
In early September, Principal Howlett announced to the seniors and juniors that the pep rally had been cancelled. His words were greeted by collective booing from the audience. However, in the recent weeks following the announcement, conflicting opinions have emerged regarding the cancellation.
According to Principal Howlett, the pep rally was cancelled due to alarming occurrences at the pep rally of 2013. An event intended to unite the school as a force for positivity and encouragement resulted in severe grade division as well as mockery towards the school’s younger denizens.
Mr. Howlett mentioned that he “did hear two or three chants that [were] not in the spirit of the pep rally.” Upperclassmen more clearly identified these chants as negatively singling out students from all grades as well as insulting entire classes. The impetus for the final decision came not from Mr. Howlett but the many committees that advise him on the school. In agreement with their critique of the last pep rally, Mr. Howlett believes that “the behavior [at the pep rally] was not up to expectations that [he] had for students. Something that was supposed to unite the school had the opposite effect.”
Responses to this news vary from grade to grade. A recurring sentiment, though, is sympathy for the seniors, who came close to starting out their year with the event only to have it slip through their fingers.
Indeed, a senior, Luke Coburn ’15, believes that while he is “quite indifferent towards having [the pep rally], it feels unfortunate that they would deprive this year’s seniors from a privileged experience because of what last year’s seniors did.” He presents the counterargument that some calmer seniors have brought up: the main injustice of the cancellation is not for the sophomores or the freshmen, but for the seniors who suffer the collateral damage of the class of 2014.
The sophomores, the victims of much vitriol at last year’s pep rally, seem upset over losing their opportunity to lord over the freshmen this year. Moreover, many sophomores, having become friends with upperclassmen, expressed concern for the seniors. Lauren Kessler ’17 said, “It’s sad the senior have to miss out on their pep rally. And it’s not fair to them.” Other sophomores as well expressed stronger emotions, ranging from irritation to outright anger.
In an ironic twist though, the juniors and the seniors seem to approve of the announcement the most. The juniors, either wrung out by their hectic schedules or strenuous workloads, expressed primarily indifference or approval. While one junior casually dismissed the cancellation as another school announcement, another believed that uniting the school was more important than seeing juniors trump sophomores, or vice versa.
Christine Wang ’15, one of the very seniors who lost her last pep rally, surprisingly agreed with the juniors’ sentiments. Wang said, “While I do wish that we could have the pep rally for our senior year, I also agree that it is time for our school to redefine the purpose of the pep rally, which is to unify the entire school and encourage each other rather than to use it as a mechanism to prove superiority or to humiliate someone.”
A large majority exists who seem to agree with the reasons behind the cancellation. Eric Boulter ’16 concurred with the rest of his grade, saying that he believes the cancellation to be “beneficial because I feel that the culture of the pep rally had shifted from school spirit to division of classes. It has become a separating rather than a uniting school function.” While some may criticize the cancellation, many see it as an opportunity for the grades to become more unified in their support of Ridge High School as a whole.
The most positive aspect of the cancellation seems to be the lack of vitriol from the upperclassmen. Though there are some who angrily dispute the cancellation, many seem to look forward to other uniting events, such as the Ridge volleyball tournaments for juniors and seniors and the Mr. Ridge contest. After all, though Ridge may have lost its pep rally, it seems to have no need of it for more school spirit.