As we enter into our Homecoming weekend, Norristown Area High school kicked off the festivities with its famous in-school pep rally this morning during the first two blocks. Although it is normally held in the gym, the pep rally was outside on the football field today. The event, run by the Blue & White Society,  is not only the first pep rally to be held outside but the first pep rally we’ve been able to have in general since the pandemic began. 

“I’m feeling nervous about this pep rally because it’s the first one since after covid,” said French teacher Jen Shahin, who, along with English teacher Kate Bartlett, is an advisor to Blue & White. 

That didn’t stop the pep rally from running smoothly and being a lot of fun for students who have experienced the indoor rally and newcomers to the event. 

“I’m pleased because this is my first pep rally and I’m honored to be an eagle,” said Amyrah Smith, a freshman a NAHS. 

Even though the weather was in the high 50s  this morning and the students had to be outside in the cold, that didn’t stop them from enjoying themselves and showing off their school spirit. 

“If anything it just pushes us more,” said  Zaire Lochetto, a member of the homecoming court.

The two-hour event was made up of games, performances, and athlete introductions.  It was hosted by social studies teacher Krista Bolinksy and seniors Vanessa Ramos and Samir Miles. 

The first game was the grade-level relay race, but this wasn’t just a simple relay race but a relay race with challenges. Students and teachers begin with the partner balloon relay, and then move on to turf bowling, with the third challenge being Dizzy Bat, leading into the small ball toss into a net, and finally the jigsaw relay. The winners of this relay race were the teachers, with seniors taking second place.

Following this, we had a small intermission with the Sabor Latino Dance group,  who had a wonderful dance routine prepared to wow the students.

The second game, Musical Mats, is just musical chairs but instead of chairs, it’s mats, to account the for large space the participants had to cover. It was a tough competition but it all came down to the teachers and the junior class; however, this time, the juniors took the win.

As a special treat and pep rally halftime, we introduced our Homecoming royalty members, which included Dane Crook, Gume Morales, Vanessa Ramos, Genesis Vasquez, Lochetto, Micah Brewer, Amanda Jones, Lilian Richardson, Samir Miles, and Ariana Green.  These 10 seniors campaigned for weeks in hopes of taking home the crowns, and for the first time, we announced the homecoming royalty winners here at the pep rally: Genesis Vasquez and Gume Morales!

“Feels like a movie I never thought I’d be a part of. I’m so honored,” said Vasquez, homecoming royal” 

“[I’m] really thankful for everyone who voted for me,” Morales added. “Make sure you guys do the same and vote me for prom king as well.” 

As another small intermission before the final game, we showed off our school spirit by cheering the student-athletes to show appreciation for their hard work during the fall season. The girl’s field hockey team ran first, followed by the golf team, girl’s volleyball team, cross country team, girl’s tennis team, girl’s soccer team, boy’s soccer team, and cheerleaders, respectively. Of course, we finished with our school’s football team, who will be taking on the Boyertown Bears tomorrow for the annual Homecoming football game. 

This brought us finally our last and most exciting game, the grade-level tug of war! The first match was between the 9th graders and the 10th graders, with the freshman participants knocking the sophomores out of the water. This match was then followed by the 11th and 12th-grade match, and while the seniors put up a good fight, they lost to the junior participants. For the third match, we had the winners from the previous matches go head to head, and the freshman participants took the win for the team. Finally, we had a teacher versus student championship team match. The freshman held their ground and kept the teachers’ team on their feet, but unfortunately, the teachers took the final win. 

This proved another exciting day for Norristown, where school spirit was on full display. 

Principal Dr. McGriff summed up the day with some strong words for Norristown: “Stay true to the blue.”