The Last Hurrah — The first and last pep assembly of the year was held on May 13 on the East football field

The first and final pep assembly of the year was held on Thursday, May 13 during seminar on the East football field.

The excitement was high, with around 300 students and staff gathered on the bleachers and track to wrap up the not-so traditional year. Students filed in while the Lancer Dancers and Cheer Team performed their sideline dances to the bands music.

This year’s Senior Pep Execs Jilli Foley, Megan Biles, Cameron Rooney, Cade Eldred, Carson Holmes and Brady Friend energized the crowd by starting off with the “Do It” chant — where each grade, starting with freshmen, takes a turn screaming, “Do it, do it, go, go, go!” 

Biles then recognized this year’s sport champions consisting of wrestling, tennis, golf, lacrosse and football.

With continuous cancelations of school traditions throughout the year, being able to pull off a pep assembly for the seniors’ last few days at East was the main goal according to Foley. The uncertainty of this year drove the execs to make sure seniors got at least one pep assembly, even if it had to be outside.

“Since the last pep assembly is usually the biggest, it was a light through the tunnel to get something a little bit normal for our senior year,” Foley said. “We all kept on persisting to the administration for doing it and finally when we could, nothing was stopping us and we wanted to end with a bang.”

The pep execs were notified just two weeks in advance that the pep assembly was a go, so they got planning and brainstorming immediately. 

“Having a year of nothing, the seniors had strong ideas of what they wanted, so we made sure to plan something fun to give everyone closure for the end of high school,” Foley said.

The newly chosen pep execs for 2021-22 — juniors Celia Condon, Charlotte Hawes, Maeve McGrath, Spencer Newton, Brian Henegar and Kyler Haughton — made an appearance, introducing themselves to the student body for the first time. They led the new chant they created called “Blue.” Henegar and Haughton led the chant by spelling out “blue,” while the crowd followed by shouting “blue” three times after.   

The Varsity Lancer Dancers performed their annual Mancer Dancer routine — where the girls each pick a guy to perform with. Junior Varsity and Varsity Cheer performances followed.

The assembly also consisted of the Balloon Stomp — where students from each grade tied a balloon around their ankle and competed against each other by trying to pop the other grade’s balloons. Freshmen and sophomores went first, where sophomores reigned victorious. The junior and senior competition followed, where the senior team won. For the final round, the winning sophomore and senior teams went up against each other, ultimately ending with a senior victory.

Wrapping up the assembly the new and old exces spontaneously kept the energy up by leading the chant “Roller Coaster.” While standing at the front of the bleachers, they waved their hands in the air and got the crowd to follow their actions.

“I felt accomplished as a pep exec since we couldn’t do anything this year.,” Foley said. “Pulling off the pep assembly while getting everyone hyped made me feel so happy.”