What is the purpose of pep assemblies?

By Nathaniel Schill, Reporter

Pep assemblies are commonplace at many highschools and VHS is no different. Associated Student Body or ASB hosts pep assemblies fairly regularly to increase school spirit. They typically involve student competitions between grades and speeches. Many students look forward to pep assemblies as they are a welcome break from schoolwork and an exciting environment. But do they improve school spirit?

Many feel that pep assemblies are a good way to increase interaction between the grades, as it provides an opportunity for students to interact with peers they might not normally interact with at school outside of class.

“I think there’s a level of camaraderie in a pep assembly. You have all these different grades and there’s a level of interaction that you don’t always get anywhere else. Like as a freshman, you’re not doing a whole lot of interacting with a senior or junior. But when I was out there, and it was just me and the junior, we talked,” winner of musical chairs in the Homecoming assembly, Will Henley said.

Pep assemblies are big events in school; everyone in the school is in one room. There are activities to plan and a theme to pick, meaning ASB has their hands full in planning these events.

“For homecoming, we had the tradition of the lip sync. So that was kind of a given that we wanted to do. Often, like during ASB meetings, we’ll brainstorm with all of ASB to come up with ideas. Sometimes, we’ll do something seasonal. Or, if we’ve had cheer dances or around basketball season did like a cheer and basketball collab thing,” ASB president senior Jessica Levin said.

Pep assemblies and open mics are common at VHS. They are also very different from each other. Recently, the school has not been having many pep assemblies.

“Let’s take homecoming as an example. We had a pep assembly on Friday and an open mic on Wednesday. And then for the Snow Ball, we decided to not have a pep assembly because we had one a few weeks prior… So we did open mic because we don’t want to get people tired of pep assemblies. So that’s why we choose which to do and not to do,” Levin said.

At pep assemblies, nearly the whole school is there, so going in front of a crowd can be a stressful experience. These are good opportunities to overcome fear.

“I’m sure if it was just me, it would have been a lot more stressful, but it was me and my homecoming date, so it was pretty relieving to have her there,” Henley said. “When it was just me versus the junior in the final, my heart was like, okay well, I either get praised by the freshman grade or I get shunned. So yeah, I wasn’t very nervous going in, but near the end, I got very nervous.”

Pep assemblies are essential parts of a school’s ecosystem and are very important for morale, according to students. They provide a nice break from a normal school day and are a core part of spirit weeks. Pep assemblies can also be a source of motivation for students, particularly before large events such as sports games. Seeing their peers and teachers come together to show support and encouragement can boost students’ confidence and drive them to perform their best.