![The Phoenix varsity volleyball team lines up for the national anthem. “We were more communicative [with each other] during this game, and I feel like we kept our energy up, especially after the first set,” senior Jessica Valdov said.](https://theblazerrhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/DSC_0202-1200x800.jpg)
The week of April 8 to 11 saw school spirit in full bloom as students and staff geared up in outfits for the final spirit week and pep rally of the year. The week began with a clash between petals and pines as students chose sides in Florist vs. Forest Day. Some arrived in garlands of artificial flowers, while others sported leafy camouflage and earth-tone attire. During lunch, the Student Council Association (SCA) organized a trivia game, and the class of the winning student or group won spirit points. The trivia was hosted by SCA executive and class officers, featuring general knowledge and history questions.
On Wednesday, hallways turned royal purple for Purple Out day, in solidarity with military students. Students and staff donned purple T-shirts and ribbons. In lieu of the usual lunch game, SCA hosted a “Guess-the-number” game, where students could scan a QR code attached to the lunch tables to guess the number of cotton balls in a mason jar to win spirit points.
Thursday was Dynamic Duo Day, inviting pairs to coordinate costumes as duos — video game characters, seasoning pairs, or pop culture partners. Staff members, like social studies teacher Victoria Webb and psychology teacher Nicole Spage, who were dressed as peanut butter and jelly, also participated in the spirit day. The lunch game was “Peep-on-a-String,” adding an Easter twist to the traditional “Donut-on-a-String” game, where a partner used string to dangle a Peep marshmallow in order to get their counterpart to catch it in their mouth. “It felt kind of crazy that the last [spirit week] is already here,” winner of the C lunch game senior Nikky Kuninti said. “It makes graduation feel even closer and I was thinking about how I’m going to miss this in college.”
Spirit week concluded with Class Colors Day on Friday, when each grade wore its assigned hue: Freshmen in black, sophomores in gray, juniors in white, and seniors in red. The school saw the most participation on Friday, as all grades dressed up to represent their class in the pep rally later that day.
Before the pep rally activities started, SCA President senior Annabelle Monte and Spirit Director junior Nila Divakar handed the microphone to Vice Principal Mike Fitzgerald, who surprised the school with a new costume for Rock Ridge’s phoenix mascot, Rocky. The costume came as another gift for Rock Ridge’s 10-year anniversary.
After the big reveal, the spring sports athletes gave a warm welcome. Athletes from lacrosse, soccer, tennis, track, softball, and baseball entered the gym, accompanied by cheering support from students in the stands.
Once the introductions ended, the pep rally moved into the first game: bubble soccer. Two teams, the blue team —played by representatives of the sophomore and junior class — and the red team, who were played by representatives from the freshmen and senior class, faced off. The crowd was filled with energy throughout the entire game. “I feel like they took it really seriously, and we were getting really competitive which was fun to see,” senior class Vice President Maanu Karthikeyan said. After a hard fight, and plenty of falls, the red team eventually secured a victory.
During a brief intermission, the Rock Ridge Performing Arts members presented one of their dances from their upcoming musical, “Tarzan.”
In the final game of the event, English teacher Johanna Ayala-Walsh, Spanish teacher Sarah Seitz, and science teachers Kyle Hayne and Mithra Marcus, participated in a balloon-popping game, in which each teacher grabbed balloons from their bag and sat on them until the bag was empty. After all of the running back and forth, Hayne won. “When I got the last balloon and turned around and saw everybody else still had balloons, I walked my way back to the chair and got some rest,” Hayne said.
To decide which grade should win the final spirit stick of the year, party streamers were thrown, with the loudest grade earning the spirit stick. After loud cheers from each grade, Hayne decided that the sophomores won the final spirit stick.
