Miranda Willson
At this year’s Pep Rally, one of the most common complaints was that there were malicious feelings and tensions among different grades. Specifically, the sophomore girls and senior girls seemed to be at odds with each other. Ms. Hardesty removed several signs posted in the hallways for their negative content, in some cases regarding individual students.
Some students believe the rivalry has died out since Pep Rally. Senior Paulina McGowan said, "I like all the girls [in the school]. They’re all very nice. We’ve resolved everything." According to Paulina, there was just "a misunderstanding." She added, "After pep rally we talked it out. We were all just joking."
Most of the girls involved in the rivalry seem to agree that it is no longer an issue, though not all of them are ready to be buddy-buddy with each other quite yet.
"I don’t personally have anything against the seniors," said sophomore Ava Leoncavallo. "I get their whole senioritis thing, but I’m just going to let them do their own thing."
Regarding Pep Rally, sophomore Camilla Coronado said, "It was rude how the seniors walked through our hallway and made comments about our signs and then ripped some of them down." She does not believe the problem has been fully resolved. "There are still some major issues," she said.
Melanie Mecurio, also a sophomore, said, "I don’t really care if it’s resolved."
While the rivalry may have been going on for some time, the inter-grade problems between the two groups of girls reached its peak at Pep Rally when "rude, inappropriate, insulting and degrading signs" were posted in the hallways, according to Ms. Hardesty. "There has been drama throughout the year. This was just a venue for these girls to express themselves. Unfortunately it cast a shadow on what would regularly be a fun day for the whole school and community," she added.
Many students agree that Pep Rally should focus more on school spirit in preparation for homecoming rather than on pride for one’s grade. Throughout the day of Pep Rally, Ms. Hardesty and Mr. Adipietro were forced to frequently revisit the hallways and remove signs that were continuously posted by two groups of students. Ms. Hardesty said, "We had to pull the kids aside and tell them to stop."
It is no secret that the administration would like to see more positive behavior at next year’s pep rally.