Samo admin responds to spring rally
While students and faculty convened in the Greek theatre for the last pep rally of the year, ASB’s plans were disrupted by student behavior, which later prompted ASB and administrators to consider possible changes to ensure a safer rally environment for next year.According to Principal Eva Mayoral, students had been posting on social media websites a few nights before the event, organizing attendees to exhibit such behavior that all future pep rallies will be canceled. During Chamber Choir’s performance of the “Star Spangled Banner,” students began singing over choir members, causing the choir to exit the stage.“It was really heartbreaking to have our choir kids feel disre- spected and our choir director feel disrespected by how students reacted,” Mayoral said. “I think we can do better than that. I don’t really define that as bringing our best selves to something; respecting the work and effort of others — I want us to be about that. I don’t think that’s an unreasonable expectation, or an unachievable expectation.”Student Holly Erickson (’15) was exiting the Greek after the rally and was pushed into a group of jumping people while she stopped to observe the crowd. A student elbowed her in the lip, which then began to swell and bleed.
For Erickson, however, the rally was not as much a showcase of bad behavior, but rather a chance for students to partake in a fun school gathering.“It looked to me like school spirit, not violence,” Erickson said. “I don’t think kids were exhibiting violent behavior. If anything, pep rallies bring us closer together as a school and provide a time for non-academic activity that allows grades and students as a whole to let go of some stress and pent-up teenage angst.”Despite the behavior exhibited during the music festival-themed rally, ASB Student Member of the Board Alaleh Mokhtari (’15) is proud of the overall outcome of the event.“I think the amount of work put in by everyone is always worth it. Things rarely go perfectly at the rallies and ASB always expects chanting,” Mokhtari said. “Although the respect from students is sometimes lacking, ASB is always happy to put on rallies for our school. As long as we’re able to get students excited and hyped about the rallies, the work will always be worth it.”
In previous years, administrators temporarily banned all pep rallies due to behavioral issues, Mayoral said. After the events of Friday’s rally, however, Mayoral is not looking to punish everyone. Instead, she will work with ASB and other administrators to plan how to send a message to Samo that behavior in future rallies must improve.
Although Mayoral is considering issuing individual consequences, she is not looking to cancel any upcoming events for students.“I am definitely not going to punish the entire school for the acts of some, and I am certainly not going to punish the entire senior class, or junior class, for the disrespect of some kids in the group because it wasn’t everybody,” Mayoral said.What Mayoral hopes to make apparent is not what punishment administration can impose upon the student body, but rather the dangers of attempting acts such as throwing talcum powder into the air. According to Mayoral, this type of behavior may seem innocuous, but it puts all audience members at risk.
“I get it; it’s a pep rally and I get that there’s an excitement that goes with that, but there’s also a boundary and I think that I can’t impose that boundary on anybody; that’s something that each individual is responsible for doing for themselves,” May- oral said. “We need to be able to trust that we can do that and help people to see that that’s really in the best interest of everyone.”eic@thesamohi.com