ASB opened the 2018-19 school year Aug. 31 with its first pep rally, hoping to welcome students with plenty of spirit. For the first time, both sides of the gym were packed with students due to the addition of the new freshman class.

“It’s the pep rally where we introduce the theme for our Forthcoming game, and I think that’s a huge event at our school,” vice president Lauren Hwang said. “I really want it to be something that all the students can keep in their memories of high school and something that’ll be special towards them, especially as we are going towards our senior year and graduation year.”

The choir, directed by visual and performing arts teacher Adrian Rangel-Sanchez, kicked off the rally with the national anthem. Cheer team and dance company members performed routines, and Advanced Video Production created a “Freshman Do’s and Don’ts” video, which co-ASB director Emily Sheridan said she hopes will become a tradition for later years.

For freshmen, Friday was their first experience with an official pep rally; Hwang said she hopes that they will become more accustomed to the spirited atmosphere in the future.

“I think just having more people in the gym makes it feel like we’re really growing as a school,” Sheridan said. “I think that [freshmen] will be an integral part of growing our community.”

Towards the end of the rally, one student from each house participated in a balloon-popping game that would determine the Forthcoming themes for his or her respective house. The chosen themes were “Under the Sea,” “Stuck in the Snow,” “In the Jungle,” and “Out of this World” for Pegasus, Orion, Hercules and Poseidon houses respectively.

“For this rally, we wanted to plan events that would allow for more engagement of the student body,” boys spirit and rally commissioner Jeffrey Chen said. “We also tried to make an intricate student game that would allow the students to pick the Forthcoming themes. Coming up with the game was rather tricky because we wanted student input. Some people said that last year the themes were forced on each house, and so we would have to make the game randomized but still provide an incentive for people to play. Overall, I feel that the Forthcoming reveal this year definitely improved from the runway we had last year.”