It was that time of day again. Red, blue, purple, and green were seen throughout the stadiums of West High which can only mean one thing – rally day.

  Rally days primarily take place Fridays before lunch. However, on March 4, West High hosted their very first night rally and it was a huge success. Students as well as people from different schools were invited to the big night. This rally was held to showcase the finals of the Olympic Week – which took place on February 29 to March 3 – and other friendly competition. The days leading up to the rally consisted of various sports competition and a mini track tournament at the end of the night. Mia Abrena (9) said, “Olympic Week was fun. It was cool because Freshmen took the [win] for volleyball.”

  Just like every rally West High has had, students were encouraged to dress in their class colors. The rally opened up with a beautiful rendition of the national anthem made by the West High Aristocracy team. A member of aristocracy, DongHo Kang (10), said, “Singing the anthem in front of the school was definitely nerve-racking, but in the end I felt great.”

  After the performance, Secretary of Spirit, Alanna Bledman (12), introduced the 2016 spring sports with the West High cheerleaders hyping up the crowd. The following varsity sports were presented: Girls Softball, Boys Baseball, Boys Tennis, Boys Volleyball, Boys and Girls Swimming, and Boys and Girls Track and Field.

  The athletes went back to their designated spots after the introduction and then the West High Olympians from each grade came out to represent their classes while Secretary of Production, Noah Sullivan (10), and Senior Class President, Peter Song (12), updated the student body on how all the grades were doing thus far in the Olympics.

  A series of boys versus girls and grade versus grade rivalries were later held. Bledman asked the crowd for a girl and a boy from any grade to come down to perform the actions that she announces. The first was a flipping contest to see which gender can flip the most and highest. The boys took the win for that round. Next, three boys and two girls went head on for a dance battle, to which the boys won again. Lastly, was a singing competition. Austin Turner (10) sang “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber which received a great reaction from the crowd. However, this time a girl dominated, even when the sophomores were chanting Turner’s name.

 Towards the end of the rally there was the track competition in which the juniors took first, sophomores took second, seniors took third, and freshmen were titled last. Alizae Umi (11) said, “This was probably the best rally West has hosted. Hopefully there are more to come.”

  Following the juniors win, the Olympians all came out again and received the following medals for their class:

Juniors – 1st place overall (Gold)

Seniors – 2nd place overall (Silver)

Sophomores – 3rd place overall (Bronze)

Freshmen – 4th place overall

Students made their way down to the field and sang the Alma Mater – a great ending to a superb night. If you did not come out to the very first night rally, make sure to come join WHS for the next one!