By Addison Schwing – Editorial and News Editor

Jonathan Law hosted a Winter Pep Rally on January 24 in celebration of both the winter sports season and of a doubleheader basketball event against Foran High School. 

The pep rally featured performances from the Law cheerleading and gymnastics teams and an encore performnace from one of the Lip Sync Battle acts from the previous night.

The pep rally was hosted by seniors Mike Loschiavo, Morgan Taylor, Brooke Nabors, and Eden van Waveren, who were assisted by Ms. Francisco, Ms. Russell, and Mr. Sarullo. 

“We wanted a really large crowd and people to participate and I think we got that,” Loschiavo said.

The four worked tirelessly to plan fun activities for the students. While this pep rally was just 40 minutes, it was filled with festivities and a celebration of Law’s sports programs. 

“This pep rally was tight on time hence we weren’t able to do some things we had planned to do,” van Waveren said. “We had higher expectations and hope to achieve them for our spring pep rally.”

One of the pep rally’s biggest functions was to garner support for Law’s basketball teams, who would face longtime rival Foran High School that same night. Boys basketball beat the Lions 73-49, improving their record to 8-3 for the season, while the girls easily secured a 61-28 win, improving to 7-4 for the season. 

The pep rally also showcased the talents of the cheerleading and gymnastics teams, with the Gymnastics team performing for the first time ever during a pep rally. 

The gymnastics performance featured a choreographed dance routine, as well as exhilarating acrobatics set to “Cruisin’ for a Bruisin” from “Teen Beach.”

Junior Alexis Rios performed with her team and was quick to give praise to her fellow gymnasts. 

“We’re so used to performing for a judge, but this time it was more for the fun of it,” Rios said. “Everyone worked so hard and did such a good job.” 

The next pep rally will see the passing of the metaphorical torch from the current MC’s to four new juniors. This will be an important responsibility for the incoming seniors as they will be responsible for every pep rally thereafter. 

“Having pep rallies is important to showcase our students in a non-academic way,” Francisco said. “It boosts school spirit and sense of school community. High school should be about the memories as well as academics. “

Members of the pep rally committee said that pep rallies offer students the opportunity to celebrate the idea of being a part of something greater than themselves – a community, more than a school or grade level.

“School spirit is important because it helps pump up the athletic teams along with the student section,” Nabors said. “When both of those groups have spirit, the games have a better turnout. It also allows us as a school to share spirit together as one community.”