On Friday, September 27, Towson High School held its most electrifying pep rally ever. Teachers and students were ecstatic at the sudden spike in spirit that filled the hall ways and the stadium stands.

It was a sea of maroon and white as the student body crossed the threshold into the football stadium. The pep rally began with the marching band playing “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it ain’t got that swing),” “Pegasus,” and “Hey Pachuco” to energize the crowd. Everyone cheered and screamed as teachers danced out onto the track in an unexpected swing-dance flash mob.  Music blasted through the stadium as the names of all fall student athletes were announced. The intense energy continued as the varsity and JV teams participated in entertaining games on the football field, including one that required students to use their necks to pass a hula-hoop down a line of athletes.  The crowd was on its feet for the entirety of the games, loudly cheering the athletes on.

After most Towson pep rallies, students usually leave grumbling about what a waste of time they were.  This year, the post-pep rally atmosphere consisted of students shouting their approval while excitingly exiting the stadium.  Junior Brenna Jones’ favorite part of the pep rally was the teacher flash mob during the marching band’s performance.  Sophomore Mariam Salahvarzi agreed that teacher participation really made the pep rally a success.  She thought the best part was the teacher tug-of-war, which she thought was “hilarious.”

In past years, the marching band’s performance was merely a spectator event, but this year, the entire student body was up and cheering.  Freshman Tommy King declared, “My favorite part was the marching band because I’m in it!”  The crowd’s cheers were so loud that it was impossible to hold a conversation.

Once the pep rally ended, Mr. Jochmans held a retake session for his GT physics quiz, but the room hardly resembled a testing environment.  Jochmans’ face was still painted maroon and white and his voice was cracking from all the yelling he did at the pep rally.  It was clear that he and fellow pep rally emcee, Ms. Dugovich, had worked hard to prepare for the event.  In addition to getting the students pumped, Jochmans and Dugovich urged teachers to get involved too.

After the pep rally, teachers were thrilled that the THS spirit seemed to have returned.  The event brought feelings of nostalgia at the thought of the “good old days” at Towson when spirit was high.  Special Education Department teacher Ms. Forthuber proclaimed, “When I first started at THS some 28 years ago, pep rallies were fun and amazing. Friday’s pep rally brought back that same feel.”

Ms. Forthuber was not alone in this nostalgic feeling.  Gym teacher Mr. Eastham said, “This was the best pep rally that I have been a part of since I have been a teacher here. It brought me back to the pep rallies that we had in the gym as an entire school when I was a student here.”

The pep rally was a huge accomplishment for the SGA and the administration.  It will hopefully bring teachers and students together for future school events. Now that our school spirit has increased, the SGA is looking to have more events like the pep rally to prove how strong our General Pride is!