Springs School’s monthly pep rallies for the middle school students, led by the teacher Sondra Vecchio, usually begin with Ms. Vecchio asking the students how they feel, and the students chanting back loudly, “Osprey strong! All day long!”
This gets them energized and focused. Ms. Vecchio then announces the SOAR (that stands for service, optimism, accountability, and respect) points. The class that earns the most points gets an ice cream sandwich party.
SOAR points are earned for attendance, behavior, “neat street” (which is how clean their part of the school is), lunchroom etiquette, Chromebook etiquette, school spirit, and winning the games at the pep rally. At the most recent rally, the eighth grade earned the most points — 80!
After the SOAR points were announced, the students of the month were celebrated. The recipients were Kacey Kromer and Tobin Payne from sixth grade, Callie Grimes and Esteban Gonzalez from seventh grade, and Matheo Nunez and Lucia Payne from eighth grade.
Finally Ms. Vecchio always has a game planned for the middle schoolers to enjoy. This month the game was a slightly different version of Musical Chairs. Paper plates were used instead of chairs. Teachers placed paper plates on the ground, and each grade was called to participate. When the music stopped, each student had to be on a plate, and if the students didn’t land on a paper plate, they would be eliminated. If two students landed on the same paper plate they would have to play a quick game of Rock Paper Scissors. The person who lost was eliminated and would return to their seat in the bleachers.
The sixth grader Julian Tran said he thought the pep rally was cool and liked playing Musical Chairs with paper plates. Julian says that pep rallies encouraged kids to be on their best behavior and they win prizes as a result.
“I wanted to take over pep rallies to bring in fun, new games and create something students could really look forward to,” Ms. Vecchio said. “I also hoped it would help build stronger school spirit and encourage more positive behavior throughout middle school.” Pep rallies “give us a chance to come together as a whole middle school and celebrate positive things, like students of the month and other achievements. They also give everyone a break to have fun, connect with each other, and feel proud of our school.”
By Natalie Bravo and Karyme Vega, Grade 6