Dressed in their class colors, Wildcats entered West Ranch’s gymnasium for the annual class competition rally on the morning of Feb. 7. With yellow posters on the freshmen side, green for sophomores, blue for the junior section and red for the seniors, class rivalry could be felt throughout the room.
Senior emcees Natalie Arrington and Faith Neville, alongside the US History teacher Mr. Arrowsmith welcomed students to West Ranch’s Olympic Rally. Similar to the Olympic Games, each grade would compete in a series of games, in an elimination bracket style. Sophomore ASB member Chloe Yuan described, “it’s also a lot of class competition incorporated much more than other rallies.” The class that won the most games would be awarded a trophy.
When asked about the inspiration behind the theme of this rally Chloe Yuan explained, “We were inspired by last year’s Olympics, and since the next Olympics is going to be hosted in LA, which is close to us, we were inspired. We all also just really wanted to do a class competition-oriented rally.”
Before the rally started, the crowd rose for the National Anthem in front of the American flag. The crowds were then directed to watch a video of Mr. Fisher running through the West Ranch campus, holding a model of the Olympic torch in his hand. As Mr. Fisher made his way to the gym, the video transitioned to his real entrance to the gym.
Students cheered as he hyped up the crowd, and began the traditional “spirit chant” using the torch. The seniors cheered loudest and the rally was set into motion.
Each grade was assigned a representative teacher to help the team in the games and strengthen class engagement. Coach Lutge led the freshmen, Mrs. Zeringue with the sophomores, Mr. Burrill with the juniors and Mr. Fisher with the seniors.
The first game was tug-of-war. Freshman and sophomore representatives lined up along the rope and the sophomores won the first game. This rewarded them with a point and the opportunity to move on to the next round.
Then, the juniors and seniors grabbed their ends of the rope in a new matchup. With struggle from both sides, the seniors won, obtaining their first point.
For the final round of tug-of-war, the sophomores and the seniors battled against each other. The seniors won, updating the leaderboard to seniors in first place, sophomores in second and juniors and freshmen tied for third. “[I was rooting for] the seniors, of course. I mean, not biased or anything, but I do think we are the best grade here,” senior host Natalie Arrington remarked.
Carrying the cheers, the emcees transitioned to a halftime show. The cheerleading team grasped the crowd’s attention and took the stage with a series of cartwheels and flips. The cheer team danced to remixes of various songs, and the crowd erupted in cheer, anticipating the next game.
For the second game, three Wildcats from each grade, including their teacher representative , played musical chairs. With multiple rounds of walking in circles, chair stealing and falling, the juniors secured a point for their team.
At this point, the seniors remained in the lead with two points and the sophomores, juniors, and freshman were falling behind.
The third game was “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Cup,” a spin-off of the classic game, “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” with a twist. When the announcer yells “Cup!” the competitors rush to reach the cup placed in front of them.
After multiple rounds, the final competitors were a junior, a freshman and Mr. Fisher representing the seniors. The juniors came out on top with an intense battle, granting the junior class another point. The juniors and seniors were now tied with two points.
The emcees then announced that it was time for the hip-hop team’s performance. The dancers walked onstage with sunglasses and color coded outfits, ready to perform. As they danced to songs like “Finesse” by Bruno Mars and “Robotics” by ZaeHD & CEO, the room erupted into cheers.
For the final game, class representatives played a bobsledding game. The race required the players to run and jump on a blowup mattress to slide across the gym in a relay. The first round was a close game which ended in another senior win, while the second round winner was the freshman class.
As the rally came to an end, it was time to announce the final standings. The seniors won first place, with a total of three points. The juniors were in second with two points, and the sophomores and freshman tied for third with one point each. Seniors won the gold medal and were awarded mini golden medals thrown around the student section. “[Even though] we didn’t have as many performances, it was really interesting to interact with all the students. It was just really fun, everyone got involved in this rally and no one was dozing off or on their phone.” senior emcee Natalie Arrington emphasized.
Cats, make sure to be on the lookout for more class battle rallies!
