On November 3rd, 2017, the NHS staff and students participated in the annual Pep Rally. Personally, I thought this Pep Rally was better than previous ones here at NHS, but I have a feeling some people will still say it was uncomfortable because they don’t like to be in the very hot and crowded gym.

          First off, there were the usual sports teams running through their banners, doing their own special thing once they got into the middle of the gym or the stands. Some team members threw candy, and others threw beach balls, which were then tossed around by the crowd. Then, there was a fruit roll-up eating contest, which was alright; but then again, what’s exciting about seeing people eat candy fast?  After that, an Oreo challenge occurred, where the contestants had to get an Oreo that was placed on their forehead into their mouth without using their hands.  I think this part was more enjoyable, due to the difficulty of it, and the reactions of those who fail at doing it. (Someone, for instance, smashed an Oreo angrily on the ground.) Next was the dance competition; I liked this one better than subsequent years.  The dancers took their dances pretty seriously and did a pretty good job as well.  The crowd got very riled up.

          One of the big things that everyone was waiting for, or at least, what I think people were probably waiting for, was the shaving of two staff members’ heads - a teacher, and a custodian. It was alright, but the little bait-and-switch at the beginning got me. The student moderators brought up two red-cloaked people to the seats and had them sit down; they then took off their hoods, and we found out they were both bald.  The actual shavees were revealed after. This whole event during the Pep Rally came to pass due to our exceedingly high $1350 donation to Heavenly Hats.  Besides supporting a worthy cause, who wouldn’t pass up wearing a hat all day and not getting written up?

          Now the REAL thing that I think everyone was waiting for was the dunking of Ms. Tigno and Mr. Zocco.  It was nice that the administration went to such lengths to incentivize us to donate towards the hurricane relief of Florida.  We raised $812; that deserves some props!  In total, we raised over $2162 with Heavenly Hats and the hurricane relief put together - a very good donation.

          The band played throughout 70% of the Pep Rally, and they did an exceptional job. Honestly, my favorite part of these pep rallies is just the music done by the band.  They put a lot of hard work in, and they sound very good.  Again, I thought this Pep Rally was better than previous ones - a great job to all involved!