The students in the stands cheer for their fellow classmates as they shuffle down the football field for their relay team, hoping they can pull out a win. Students not only get to watch their fellow classmates, they also get to watch their teachers on a separate relay team.
This year is the 2nd Annual Clay Pep Session. The pep session is Principal
Mr. Todd Crosby’s brain child.
“When he came to Clay three years ago , he wanted to have a place for
all of the student body to get together and celebrate,” Ms. Katz, Clay Assistant Principal,
said.
This pep session was in the works since February with the Connections
Team of teachers at Clay.
“The goal of this years pep session is to first of all, have fun
together as a Clay Nation, and for everyone to celebrate an amazing year. We
also want to recognize those who have accomplished amazing things this year
publicly,” Katz said.
The pep session will take place this Friday, May 15th, which is also the
day of Clay Dance Marathon and
the eighth grade dance. The pep session will be around an hour.
Last year’s pep session was a success. “We can only do it because we
have such amazing students here at Clay, who can behave appropriately in the
stands.” Katz stated.
All of the students should wear their Clay Challenge shirts from earlier
in the year. The sixth graders are gray, seventh graders are black, and the
eighth graders are red.
There will be three relays with twenty students per grade level
for every relay. Some of the relays include a sack race, a dress up rally and a waiter
relay.
During the Pep Rally, there will not only be relays with students and
teachers, there will also be a time to recognize all sports teams and any clubs
that have a sponsor by a teacher. They will also recognize any performing arts
students.
The Pep Rally was completely organized by teachers.
Mr. Sean McVey, seventh grade science teacher, is also largely a part of
the Pep Rally.
“I am mainly helping out with relays and getting all of the stuff set
up. I will also help supervise any students while their teacher is doing one of
the relays,” he said.
Students were chosen by their teachers to participate in the events. The
students who were chosen have followed the “Clay Way” all year long.
Last year was Clay Middle School's first ever Pep Session. It involved
only a few students and were mainly made up of “Minute to Win It” games.
“We talked to students to see what they thought about the Pep Session.
The feedback helped us organized this year’s Pep Session. Almost all of the
feedback we got said that we should have more students get involved in the
games and relays. We have taken this and tried to incorporate this into this
year’s pep session,” Katz said.
Megan Prince, seventh grader, is participating in this year’s sack race.
“I’m excited for the pep rally because it will give me a chance to
represent Clay and participate in their activities,” Prince said.
Prince also participated in last year’s pep session, but she says this year
was a total surprise. “I was excited when I found out I was able to participate
in it because it will give me a chance to do something fun,” Prince also said.