Montera Middle School’s first pep rally of the year took place on Friday, Nov.1. At the pep rally all of the athletes playing in the fall sport season for Montera gathered in the gym. This year, Montera welcomes two new sports, Futsal, and Girls Flag Football, in addition to boys flag football, girls volleyball varsity and junior varsity, and cross country.
At the start of the year there is spirit week which is always accompanied by a pep rally. Pep rallies are to raise school spirit and celebrate all the teams and athletes that earned their spot on the team.
The pep rallies go grade by grade, the 6th graders first, and 7th and 8th after. Each sport runs through a banner that shows their sport, and they run around the gym high fiving the audience as people yell and cheer for them.
Ms. Ligons, the 6th grade PE teacher organized this year’s fall pep rally along with the approval of Black Girls Brilliance, Strong Young Leaders, the Montera sports department, and African American Male Achievement.
When Ligons was asked why she does a pep rally, she responded with “to show school spirit and to make sure everyone feels seen and heard. This is also to support your teams and friends, or the people who can’t go to games.”
Ligons is the first person to make a pep rally at Montera Middle School and has been doing so since she first started working at Montera. She tries to make three pep rallies a year, one in the fall, one in the winter, and one in the spring. Before becoming a PE teacher, she was a girls and boys basketball coach since she was 18.
Many students and teachers alike were asked the same question; why do you think they have a pep rally each sports season? 8th grade student Sydney Lee said; “Because the athletes put in a lot of hard work which is sometimes unrecognized and with a pep rally it is recognized.” Another 8th grader, Emerson Baker stated it is “To know that the sports seasons are finishing soon.”
There was a lot of excitement for this year’s pep rally and to see all the different sports. The most exciting sports for many people were mainly volleyball, and football. Though these were not the only opinions, student Sydney Lee said; “Futsal because it is the first year of having a futsal team at Montera.”
