Beating their drumsticks to an electrifying rhythm, NAHS Drumline stood ready, hyping up students and staff for the 2019 Fall Pep Rally. Upon entering the gym, students and staff were greeted by bustling noise, upbeat music, cheerleaders dancing, and decorations of blue and white at every turn. 

As the crowd began to take their seats, Principle Ed Roth gave a brief welcome to everyone. The JROTC team then came out, along with Mrs. Danoff’s Select Choir for the National Anthem. After a warm round of applause for the JROTC’s drill and the Select Choir’s harmonic performance, Mr. Roth then handed the microphone over to the event’s emcees, Student Council Co-Presidents, Adrianna Wright and Sam Rosenberg. The two, along with English teacher Neil Schafer, introduced the Cheerleaders to the floor.

The Cheerleaders gave a spectacular performance. There were flips and tricks, and most importantly, school spirit! As the crowd cheered the girls on, their performance ended. Wright and Rosenberg then announced the first game of the pep-rally: the toilet paper wrap.

The premise of the game was for students to successfully wrap teachers in three rolls of toilet paper as fast as possible. Four teachers stood on one side of the gym while four groups of three students stood on the other. Schafer exclaimed, “On the Count of Three… One… Three..!” The first row of students bolted off as fast as they could, holding tightly onto their roll of toiletry. In time for the Halloween season, it was as if mummies came back from the dead as the teachers were covered from head to toe with white. One after another, the students were all gathered around their victim, rolling and rolling until, finally, a group of students used up all of their paper! As the game wrapped up, literally, the crowd anticipated the next big event.

The Drumline walked in, all wearing masks in a blue and white pattern, adding a unique touch to their performance. As they stood in formation, the crowd went wild. With the clicking of drumsticks, the show began. The gym was filled with playful rhythm as beats bounced off the drums.  The crowd cheered loudly, clapping and hyping the Drumline up. They really stepped up their pep this year! 

Speaking of pep, the new Color Guard was introduced to the floor. The team consisted of three girls along with large colored flags: navy, purple, and yellow. It was their first performance, and the crowd cheered as they finished with a grand flag spin. 

The second game of the pep-rally was announced: “Trash Pong.” The goal of the game was to eliminate trash cans by shooting playground balls into them from across the gym. Balls flew everywhere, and with the first trashcan out, the crowd applauded with joy. It wasn’t long before Rosenberg was hit on the head by a basketball, at which point we all prayed for a speedy recovery.  Time ran out, and the team with the most trash cans out had won, but the losing team would not get off easily. Its members were brought to the middle of the gym where the winners had to throw whipped cream into their faces. The crowd burst out in laughter. After all the mess was whipped up, the 2019 homecoming court was announced. 

Following the announcement, the school’s first ever Sabor Latino Dance Club took the floor. The group danced to Latin music as the crowd cheered them on loudly. The girls in the team performed a group solo and were joined by the rest of the dancers. 

It was then time for the traditional dodge-ball events. The ninth graders battled the twelfth graders for the first round, and tenth graders went at  the eleventh graders during round two. The seniors and juniors each won their respective matches, predicatively. Before the seniors and teachers went at it, our emcees introduced the senior fall athletes. 

The cheerleaders created a tunnel for the athletes to run through. After girl’s field hockey was announced, boy’s and girl’s soccer, cross country, girl’s volleyball, girl’s tennis, the cheerleaders, and the long-awaited football team followed. The crowd cheered on the team they all hoped would win the big homecoming game that evening.

 Continuing the last round of dodge-ball, the teachers and selected seniors came down to the gym floor, battling for the title of Ultimate Dodge-ball Team 2019!

 Players were getting eliminated left and right as dodge-balls flew across the gym. The teachers and seniors were neck and neck as they were down to five players each, but the seniors gained the upper hand as two teachers were struck out. After the gruesome fight, the seniors were victorious in the end. 

Stepping out from each side of the gym, the famous Norristown Step Team got into formation to close out the event. They started off strong, stepping to their own type of beat as the crowd hyped them up. Step after step, the crowd clapped along with them. The team chanted and shouted out “N-Town Step” to the classic “Lipgloss” by Lil Mama. With a round of applause, the NAHS Step team’s performance was over, and so too was the 2019 fall pep rally. 

Before everyone was announced to leave by Principle Roth, he gave a quick a thank you to the people who made the pep rally possible. Big thanks to Madam Jen Shahin, Ms. Kate Bartlett, DJ Jared Elias, and Blue and White society for a wondrous 2019 Fall Rally!