Last Friday, Central saw the return of a tradition lost since 2019: in-school pep rallies. Organized by the Student Government Association, the student vs teacher basketball game built excitement for basketball’s senior night.
Credit John Valentine.
Jack Turrentine, SGA president this year, gave insight into SGA’s motivations for this pep rally. “The pep rally represents the return of an iconic tradition,” and it is an “incredible opportunity to recognize our student body and student athletes.” He says that at surrounding schools, these pep rallies are tradition, and “we hope they will remain so at Central.”
Planned at the end of the basketball season, SGA hoped to give an overview of the season and “highlight all the work our teams have put in.” SGA hopes that this will give students “pride in their peers and their school” as well as raise morale in the student body. Turrentine not only strived for an increase in school spirit, but also in the number of students who would “cheer [Central] on as several players’ final season winds to a close.”
Credit John Valentine.
The pep rally included many student organizations including dance, cheer, band and of course basketball. The teacher line up included Calvin Smith, Ashley Cutshall, Matthew Walker, Coach Drummer, LeBrandon Marie, Adam Smith, Terrell Rollins, Trey Mitchell, Brandon Roberts, Coach Craney, Andrew Turner and Mrs. Helm. The student line up included Ashton “Ashy Poo” Martin, Tre “Treway” Lyons, Chase “Big Slime” Adams, Andrew “White Chocolate” Hill, Josh “Pooh Joshy” Purcell, PJ “Dirty Dion” Braden, Hunter “Uncle H” Heinrich, Noah “3 Pointer” Pointer, Jaiden Seiber, and Nick “Big Nick (Energy)” Riordan.
Josh Purcell, senior student player, said he believed that the game “raised morale for the night for students to come out to the basketball game.” This game was an opportunity for him to play against the people who taught him and make a lasting impression upon his senior year.
Purcell thinks this pep rally was an opportunity to boost school spirit and should be added to football season to replace the morning pep rallies that some do not know about. In relation to that, he believes that including more games, such as dodgeball matches, would engage students with school events and encourage them to support Central’s hard-working teams.
Freshman teacher Calvin Smith was a part of the teacher team, and he enjoyed being able to socialize with students and teachers that he would not normally interact with. He joined the team as a former basketball player and loved to experience basketball all while promoting school spirit.
He believes that the more exposure students get to school-centered events while in school will lead to them attending them outside of school. Just as Purcell, Smith thinks that adding dodgeball matches or other games would “allow for students to become more involved and excited about the games occurring around Central.”
Overall, SGA and its sponsors, Mrs. Searcy and Mrs. Toll, and Central’s administration is extremely happy with the outcome of the pep rally and the effect it had on Central’s student body. The Central Bobcats took on the Campbell County Cougars and won both the girl’s game 54-42 and the boy’s game 63-54, which is a true testament to the power of school spirit.
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