Ecstatically cheering, spirited students clad in red, green, blue, and purple overflowed the bleachers of the gym during the Winter Spirit Rally on Friday, December 2, 2011.

At the beginning of the rally, students were amused by a brief, comical performance from the Powder Puff “cheerleaders” showcasing stunts such as pyramids, lifts, and tumbles. Shortly after, the Powder Puff teams: The Dream Team and The Nightmares were introduced, all giving students a glimpse of what to expect at the upcoming Powder Puff Football Game on December 9th.

A performance from Advanced Dance also gave students a preview of the proximal Winter Dance Show. Their hip-hop performance was met with enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.

Next, two class competitions were held, one which had two class teams frantically attempting to get the most trash to the opponent’s side and a relay which required the two different teams to race get milk and cookies to Santa as fast as possible. The freshmen class claimed victory during the trash “snowball fight”, while the seniors came out ahead during the milk and cookie battle.

Winterfresh Court nominees, reserved for only freshmen and sophomores, an attempt to bring out more school spirit from the underclassmen, were announced following the class competitions. The Freshmen Class Court Prince Nominees were: Andrew Chiu, Chris Guillen, Mason Shortland, Dylan Tomita, and Tony Yi and the Freshmen Class Court Princess Nominees were: Savannah Caceres, Connie Chung, Rachel Mak, Jherish Moanany, and Judy Shin. For Sophomore Class Court, the King Nominees were Craig Knaus, Yeasong Lee, Ginwoo Pak, Josh Peterson, and Dane Sullivan, whereas the Queen Nominees were: Belle Jiyarom, Linda Kim, Lynn Leng, Gerone Navarro, and Courtney Shoda.

After the rally, some students voiced negative opinions. Amel Kebir (11) stated “The rally was alright, but I did not like how the juniors cheated – it made us look bad.” Cynthia Otieno (11) admitted, “I thought it was dead, I couldn’t hear the band because the sophomores were really distracting.”

Despite negative feedback from several students, the rally served its purpose: to entertain and instill spirit. This week is Winter Spirit Week, where each day is designated with a specific dress theme, all leading up to Friday’s exciting Powder Puff football game and STAR Appreciation Lunch.