A Rally To Really Rock To
The sound of feet squeaking on the gym floor is silenced by the tension in the air. 27th Best, a band made up of two juniors and seniors, stands poised behind the curtain. The Homecoming pep rally has already begun, but the band has yet to make their debut, both as the first act and their first show. Finally, the counselor and showrunner, Mrs. Walden, asks the students to come onto the gym floor in front of the stage. This is it.
27th Best consists of Carson Stout as the guitarist and frontman, Travis Roberts as the bassist and backing vocals, and Madyson Ruzbasan on drums and also backing vocals. When asked about the backstory behind their band’s name, the musicians said, “We are not the best band around, probably pretty average. This gives us a creative freedom bands at the top of the chain might not necessarily have. We are not trying to meet anyone’s expectations except our own.”
You can view the performance here!
Some small technical issues may have halted them, but nothing could have stopped them when their minds were set on achieving their goals.
Before the variety show could even begin, however, there was spirit week and banner designing. Classes are divided by grades and then tasked with creating a banner that best matches their chosen theme. This year, Lacrosse did seasons. Freshman designed a banner for summer, sophomores for spring, juniors for fall, and seniors for winter. In the end it was seniors who took first place and got second overall. Their banner depicted a tiger riding the opposing team’s mascot like a snowboard down a mountain.
Lacrosse decided to do something a little bit different for this year’s homecoming pep rally. Normally, the basketball players and cheerleaders would lead the entire student body in cheers and chants, smattering games throughout the rally to keep students occupied until the end of the day.
This year, however, the idea of a ‘variety show’ was presented. At first, it did not gain much traction, but soon many people signed up. The list included 27th Best, a faculty band, the senior class, and the girls’ basketball team, among others.
The poms dance team and cheerleaders kicked-off the pep rally with dances to the school song and other staples. The band started the acts, followed by the girls’ basketball team with a dance performance, Nurse Barb with knock knock jokes (followed by genuine laughter and groans), a senior class dance to “We’re All In This Together,” and a makeshift faculty band who did a sarcastic rendition of the classic “Wheels On The Bus” complete with xylophone, kazoo, and clarinet. Overall, the variety show was very much a success, and many of the students are looking forward to it next year.
After the show came the games. These included shooting a basket from behind the three point line, stacking cups by pulling the paper out from under them, climbing the floor with plungers, and carrying a balloon with another person and popping it. At the very end, when things were starting to wind down, there were still more jokes in store.
Principal Owney congratulated the students. He gave them a fake wifi password, which was over seventeen characters long and ended with “joke.” This created a lighthearted mood as the bell finally rang.
It seemed like one of the longest days for many of the students, and the night was still to come. That night, Lacrosse played South Central. The girls’ basketball team won, and the boys’ basketball team lost. It was also at this game that they announced the winners of the banner competition.
Student Spotlight: Drew Burtner
Drew Burtner is a senior at Lacrosse high school. He has been attending Lacrosse since he was in preschool, so he is familiar with the staff. Now, he attends the AK Smith program as well in Michigan City. He is studying there for a library sciences/child education job. He hopes to become a teacher.
Currently he is working on a lesson plan for a group of seventh and eighth graders centering around the book Wonder. Before entering these programs, he was in the culinary program. It seems he likes this one more, and he hopes to stick with it as a definite career choice.
Teacher Spotlight: Mr. Blakeman
Mr. Blakeman teaches band at Lacrosse High School. Although he may seem new to teaching the subject, he is quite skilled. The majority of his previous musical training is classical, and he makes a serious effort to show his students that, while it may be old, much of the beauty of modern music gets its roots from the composers of classical pieces. He is currently busy preparing the students for the spring concert, which happens in March.