Homecoming Pep Rally

The most recent pep rally at Aliso Niguel was held on Friday, Oct. 7 to promote the Homecoming football game and dance coming up on Oct. 21 and 22. 

This was held in the gym, a significant change from the outdoor and online pep rallies the past two school years, and it was the first indoor pep rally since COVID-19 restrictions first took place. Once again, the format of the pep rally was that the school was split into two sections, students in the 300+ hallways being section A and the 100 hallway, 200 hallway, and the STEM building in section B.

This pep rally was kicked off by introducing the hosts Arshia (12), Josh (11), Sophie (10), and Gia (9). 

When Josh, the junior class host, was asked to comment on the pep rally, he said, “The axe forgets but the tree remembers.”

  He says that this is about how the students remember their experiences at school, but the teachers go through so many students that they forget.

Various extracurricular groups at Aliso Niguel performed in the rally, including drumline, choir, cheer, song, dance team, and Dance Appreciation (DA). These groups all performed routines, and the choir sang the national anthem. The back-to-school video was also shown, getting students excited for the rest of the school year.

Maria Zolog (11), a member of the dance team, says about the pep rally, “There was a lot of adversity that was overcome by Ms. Nero, the awesome ASB, and the captains. Dance dominated.”

After this, the captains for the fall sports teams were announced as they did skits related to their sport. The following are the captains for the Fall 2022 sports season:

Football: Chad Desilva, Jack Gill, Hunter Najm, and CJ Besuzzi

Boys Water Polo: Tanner Stagner and Ethan Cooney

Girls Golf: Ariana Shahi and Rylee Lind

Girls Volleyball: Mady Smith, Danet Whiting, and Nicole Feliciano

Song: Baylie Merkh and Makhenna August

Cheer: Kylee Babin and Kali Helsel

Dance Team: Brianna Salerno, Aiyanna Williams, and Lauren Valadez

Girls Tennis: Keelie Beres, Yaz Kalaycioglu, and Alyssa Chiu

Boys Cross Country: Diogo Ribeiro and Dylan Anuskiwi

Girls Cross Country: Danna Ibarra, Kaitlyn Pence, and Arushi Verna

Surf: Carolyn O’Brien and Parker Harrison

DA: Olivia Bradley, Aria Ford, Izzy Castrenzana, and Raegan Carter

The most anticipated announcement at the pep rally that the other events were centered around was the announcement of the Homecoming theme, court, and dress-up days. On the week of Homecoming, Oct. 17-21, the dress-up days are black and white for Monday, twin day for Tuesday, pink for Wednesday, tropical for Thursday, and western for Friday. 

This is all for this year’s Homecoming theme: Blockbuster. The individual class themes are fantasy for freshmen, horror for sophomores, sci-fi for juniors, and action for seniors. 

Then, the ASB Special Events commissioners announced the Homecoming court for this year. The freshman court is Oliver Ellingston and Kainani Libuano; the sophomore court is Irfan Navsariwala and Faith Hubner; the junior court is Aria Ehsani and Avery Williams; and the senior court is Tanner Shone, Chase Muirbrook, Milan Davaran, Bleu Packer, and Aidan Lee for the princes and Willow Vantassell, Chloe Gladstone, Aiyana Williams, Liza Turner, and Marin Rollins for the princesses.

Aria Ehsani (11), the winner of junior court said about his win, “I don’t know how I won. I didn’t write anything. Join the varsity ski team.”

The first pep rally of the school year was an overall success and promoted the upcoming Homecoming, even if there were technical difficulties.