Aliso Niguel High School (ANHS) had its 2026 Winter Pep Rally last Friday, on Feb. 6. The pep rally was hosted in the gymnasium during the students’ 3rd period class.
The school was divided into two different pep rallies in order to fit all of the students comfortably in the bleachers.
The pep rally began with the introduction of the class hosts who set the scene for the rest of the rally. One of the students at ANHS was dressed in a bright orange Lorax costume and stole the “lights” from the hosts which turned everything dark and neon lights were shone all over the gymnasium.
The theme of the pep rally was lights-out, so bright neon colors, lights and glowsticks were used to decorate the rally.
To kick off the pep rally, student Mariah Lewis (12) sang the National Anthem while receiving very loud cheers from her fellow classmates.
After the National Anthem, the ANHS varsity cheer squad came out to perform a routine to hype up the crowd.
Later, Rachel James(10) and Nadia Bonfanti (10) introduced all of the winter sports. The sports featured were, girls soccer, boys soccer, girls basketball, girls waterpolo, girls wrestling, unified cheer, drumline and winter guard.
The sports were represented by their captains who ran out and performed a miniature preview of their sport.
Next, the ANHS Song team came out to perform, as well as the Dance team.
“I really liked The Lorax, it was super funny. And the games also looked super fun,” says Hayley Pascua (9).
The pep rallies often host games which students can sign up for with their friends. This rally hosted three games which were, a wig snatching game, a scavenger hunt game and a balloon poppers game.
The wig snatching game involved several students confined to a small area in the center of the gym who attempted to steal the wigs off of each other’s heads. The scavenger hunt game involved another group of students who ran around the gym collecting giant neon glowsticks, which helped play into the lights-out theme as well.
The last balloon poppers game is a game played at most of the pep rallies where students have balloons strapped to their ankles, and the main goal of the game is to pop other peoples balloons while protecting your own.
The games as well as the whole pep rally are planned out by ASB who try their best to make the pep rallies fun and entertaining for the students.
After some of the games, Dance Appreciation, also known as DA, came out to hype up the students with their hip hop style dance.
“It felt a bit sad knowing it would be my last pep rally ever. I was excited to not only be a part of the rally but also to be part of history in Aliso Niguel,” said Chanel Corredor(12), one of the varsity captains of the girls wrestling team.
During the pep rally, the Winter Formal class “Royalties” did a walk out. The royalties include one boy and one girl from each grade who were voted in by their fellow classmates.
The pep rally ended with the student dressed up as the Lorax returning the lights, and the students returning to their classes.
