By Seattle Barron, Clarion Arts and Entertainment Editor, and Maddis Gregson, Clarion Staff Reporter
Coming back this school year, we have now had our very first rally at John F Kennedy High School: the Winter Rally on December 17, the Friday before winter break. The rally was performed during A and B lunches so every student could view the performances. The rally was held outdoors on the stage in front of the mai n quad due to the schools COVID restrictions and to help more with social distancing.
Leading up to the Winter Rally was a SPIRIT week! Each day contributed to the overall theme, which was the “seasons of each year.” While there was a specific theme for each day, students could also wear Kennedy gear to participate in the spirit week. Monday was Holiday Morning, where students would wear winter holiday sweaters and pajamas. Tuesday was First Blooming, where students would wear anything with a springtime, floral print. On Wednesday, students wore tourist clothing to show off a Summer Vacay vibe. Thursday was Fall Apple Picking day, in which the students wore flannels to show off their Autumn cozy clothes. On Friday students wore their class colors for the Winter Rally. Freshman wore white, sophomores wore yellow, juniors wore green, and seniors wore red. These colors were the official class colors that connected with the theme of seasons.
On Friday, Student Government arrived at school around 6:30am to help decorate the school and set up the stage for the performances. They set up the quad by putting up seasonal decorations that were randomly placed around the school campus. There were also different sections for each grade so that it could resemble the student sections we would usually have at normal rallys.
On the stage, in front of the quad they set up a designated area for the rally performances by our own students. These performances came from Korean Dance Club, Vibe In Promo, and our very own JFK cheerleaders. Since the rally was during both lunches, blankets were laid out on the grass so that students were able to eat and enjoy the show at the same time. Members of ASB were selling cups of hot chocolate for $1 to help warm up students from the cold weather. Even our mascot had appeared by the hot chocolate stand and took photos with students.
In the beginning of the rally they announced student athletes of the year for our fall and winter sports which included volleyball, football, basketball, soccer, water polo, and more. The attention was then passed onto the main performances which were ROTC and the Colorguard, our cheerleaders, and two dance groups KDC and VIP. Up first was ROTC and Colorguard played the national anthem, which was recorded instead of being live. With that, the cheerleaders moved on the stage and gave a show with their coordinated routine along with music. It was down to the final groups, KDC and VIP. By this time, a huge crowd had come over to watch these two performances. Both of these groups had high praise and closed out the performances on a high note. Before lunch had ended, one of the EQ ambassadors had given a speech which had a focus of telling students how they can show how much they care about Kennedy by signing their name on a poster made by all the EQ ambassadors.
Overall, even though the school was not able to have a traditional rally on the football field or in the gym, it still came out to be a success. We are thankful for the student government to be able to set up the rally and give students the opportunity to perform and show off their talents.
Vibe In Promo (VIP) performing on the main stage at the quad during the Winter Rally, December 17, 2021. Photo by Kaylen Katzorke, Clarion Photo Editor.