Performers showcase months of preparations during pep rally
October 24, 2017
Spirit day can bring out school spirit from many Lane students. Everyone within the school can wear myrtle and gold to show their pride. This leads up to the Pep Rally where everyone comes out to support the varsity teams and watch performances from the Dance Team, Cheerleading Team, Marching Band, Flag Corps, and Majorettes.
For a big event like the Pep Rally, a lot of preparation goes into perfecting the routines. Preparation may lead to seemingly breathtaking performances that each team has done months of practice for.
The routines can get the crowd excited. Preparations for the Pep Rally have been in the works for months where some teams have even began working on their routines before the 2016-17 school year ended.
Varsity cheerleader Margaret Sabres, Div. 861, has been working with her team to perfect the cheer routine. Even after an entire summer of practice, the team has continued to work on their cheers everyday leading up to the Pep Rally.
“It takes everything we have to make our routine work,” Sabres said.
Since school has started, they have had practices three days a week, two hours after school on Wednesdays and Thursdays as well as 8am-12pm on Saturday. The team practices for an hour before football games, using any opportunity they have to make each routine great, according to Sabres.
Similar to the Cheerleading Team, the Dance Team has been working throughout the summer in order to prepare for the 2017-18 Pep Rally as well.
Lynne Pavletic, Div. 875, has been on the Dance Team since her freshman year and has been practicing with her team to make this year’s routine better than previous ones.
“The performance has more of a hip-hop theme rather than the usual sassy theme,” Pavletic said. “It’s a very creative routine that has a lot of different moves. I consider it one of the best performances LTDT has ever put on.”
Through all of the hard work and preparation put into the Pep Rally performances, the actual event itself gives the teams a chance to let their hard work show through their performance.
Senior Drum Major Angelica Rodriguez, Div. 871, has been apart of the Pep Rally since her freshman year, but one moment stuck out to her as being the most memorable.
“There’s so much to remember about my past three Pep Rallies, but I think the memory that sticks out to me the most was being able to take charge of the field as Drum Major last year,” Rodriguez said. “Running and dancing in front of 5000 people cheering for me was exhilarating.”
Many of the teams celebrate how far they’ve come since freshman year, but also celebrate the ending of their high school experience at Lane.
“I want all of my younger sisters on the team to know the amazing and indescribable feeling you get when you walk out onto that field at Pep Rally and the entire school is cheering you on,” Sabres said. “Even though at points it’s hard to stay focused with everything else in life going on, having the drive to hit a perfect routine at Homecoming and Pep Rally keeps me pushing on.”
Seniors are reminiscing their final Pep Rally performance.
“I suppose the real difference this year is how bittersweet it will be for the eight of us seniors since it will be our last,” Sabres said.
