On Oct. 20, UHS held its Homecoming Pep Rally, featuring performances from the Homecoming Court and class councils. The pep rally began with performances from the UHS Pep Squad and cheers for each grade led by members of the UHS Associated Study Body. Following the class cheers, the class councils performed their dances which were shown later in the Homecoming Game that evening. These performances were organized by council members with varying degrees of experience depending on grade level. For freshmen, organizing these dances can be a challenging experience. 

“I think it was a fun but hectic experience,” freshman council member Nicolas Higuchi said. “Although it was fun to learn new dances and hang out with friends in freshman council, the learning process was a little chaotic.”

With greater experience in choreography, juniors and seniors found that organizing their dances became less difficult.

“We found the best ways to structure dance practices after last year’s experiences,” Junior Class President Ally Kim said.

Following the council dances, the Homecoming Court performed dances. The Homecoming Court included seniors Ayden Agahi, Riley Herstein, Antonio Rodriguez Diaz, Antonia Park, Sanghyuk Im, Reyna Lao, Varin Gupta, Julia Murdock, Arjun Gupta, Roxy Rahimi, Samer Alzeyarah and Breanna Bautista. The dance partners choreographed the dances with the help of friends and rehearsed frequently before the pep rally. 

“Thanks to my friends, we were able to choreograph a super fun dance,” Park said. “I practiced the dance a lot with Antonio, so by the time the pep rally arrived, it felt like muscle memory.”

The Homecoming Pep Rally served as an opportunity to connect with peers and have fun. 

“I feel that class dances are one of the best ways for our class to get to know each other and strengthen our bond,” Kim said. 

The Homecoming Pep Rally brought students together to foster school spirit and build excitement for the Homecoming Dance the following weekend.