As the school year comes to a close, Emerald High’s leadership class set out to create an unforgettable spring rally this past Grady Day in the Dublin High old gym in order to celebrate how far the new high school has come in the past year. School rallies are often done to boost school spirit and bring students and staff together in a fun and entertaining way. This spring rally succeeded in furthering this purpose as it was open to all staff and students of Emerald and, as a result, helped foster school spirit.

The theme of the rally was “Students vs. Teachers,” which underlies the variety of different activities that participants could partake in.  To fit the theme, all the games played during this rally—such as tug-o’-war, soccer, and basketball— focused on competition between both students and teachers. . Student participation in these games was determined by random selection from an online form students filled out in advance.

For an exciting twist, the rally occurred under black light, meaning many students wearing brightly colored clothes were glowing throughout the rally.  Glow sticks were also distributed and thrown out to the crowds of students during the rally to allow them to fully take part in the rally too.

Bavitha Bokkasam, a freshman attending Emerald High, was delighted at how exhilarating the rally was: “It was one of the best rallies that Emerald has ever had. The theme was so creative with its decorations and color—it felt like one big party!”

To keep the environment competitive, leadership tallied points for students and teachers based on who won each game. In the first game of tug-o’-war, a set of students went against the teachers in a best of three rounds. The teachers ended up carrying the victory by winning the first two rounds quickly and efficiently, but students were still incredibly entertained nonetheless by the exciting game.

The following event was a heated soccer game between Emerald staff and the boys and girls on the Emerald soccer team, along with randomly selected students. The students proved to be a much tougher competitor than in the previous game, and the audience was kept on their toes as goal upon goal was scored by both parties.

Saipardhu, a member of the boys soccer team, shared his experience going against teachers during the rally: “It was pretty fun going against teachers, and some of them were better than I expected. One of the teachers, Mr. Heyvaert, was my assistant coach, and it was exciting to go against him.”

The final activity was a competitive game of basketball in which both teachers and students showed off their talents and skills. In the end, the teachers ended up winning all rounds against both the boys team and the girls team. Regardless, the game proved to be entertaining as students saw an unexpectedly competitive side to each of their favorite teachers.

The spring rally was a thrilling experience for all that participated and was an event full of surprises and emotion. Although the teachers ended up ultimately winning the competition, the rally left people feeling elated and eager for many more rallies to come—fulfilling its ultimate purpose to spark school spirit and community for Dublin’s Emerald High.