Dance and cheer teams perform at the homecoming pep rally
PHOTO April Carr
November 2, 2021
The homecoming pep rally took place outside on the football field on Oct. 22, where numerous events and games took place. An annual performance was done by the cheerleaders, but there was also an additional performance done by the Adrenaline dance team. The cheer and dance team spent months preparing for the big pep rally performance.
The dance team had been eager to perform at a pep rally since 2019, due to pep rally cancellations and COVID-19. Dance coach Toni Harris and captain Kylie Schramke were determined to make it happen.
“My senior captain Kylie Schramke and I knew how bad the team wanted to perform in the pep rally, so Kylie talked to Mrs. Starr about putting us in the line up,” Harris said.
The dance team had their performance to the song Black Panther by Kendrick Lamar which got the crowd very involved and eager to dance. During the first go around the music cut out midway through.
“I was sad for the girls when the music cut off,” Harris said. “I knew how nervous they were and I knew how much they wanted to do well. When they kept going without music it just made me smile.”
Cheers boomed from the crowd after seeing the team continue dancing without the music.
“I thought it was really cool and impressive that they knew how to keep going and count with one another,” junior Libby Woodard said. “You could tell they knew the dance really well because they could do it without the music just as well as with.”
Dancer Anika Guru has been a part of the adrenaline dance team since her freshman year and has grown a true love for high school dance.“My favorite part about being on the dance team and performing at the pep rally is showing everyone who Adrenaline really is,” Guru said. “Doing a sport through the school gives me an immense amount of happiness and pride and I love representing Fenton.”
The cheer team’s performance was to a mashup of songs where they debuted stunts, tumbling, jumps, a dance and even a formal cheer before the music started.
Cheer coach Morgan Martinez stated that the cheer team had been preparing since camp which took place in July.
Though the teams spent months in preparation, numerous girls on the cheer team were anxious about how stunts would go and in fear they would mess up part of the routine.
“I usually have a lot of nerves before I stunt because I want everything to hit and look good; however, there are ways I get myself out of that mindset,” junior Paige Javor said. “In order to stunt well I focus on one thing at a time. Focusing on one thing helps me listen to the counts and not think about how nervous I am.”
Along with these performances, games and activities took place including a relay race, musical chairs, tug-of-war and the Fenton battle cry chants to help students get in the school spirit for homecoming weekend.
