Back-to-School Rally features dance team and relay race

Hallie Faust and Kira Sterling
September 8, 2019

Seniors and sophomores took the lead in early Spirit Week activities after tying for first at Palo Alto High School’s back-to-school rally Friday during lunch.

The Paly Dance team performs a leap during lunch on the Quad as part of its performance during Paly’s first spirit rally of the year. The rally was organized by the Associated Student Body, and included a relay race to give participants the opportunity to earn early Spirit Week points for their grades. “We thought it would be a really great way to increase participation [in Spirit Week] and get more people to play,” senior and ASB Spirit Commissioner Paige Knoblock said. “Now that we’ve created excitement for Spirit Week with this event, I think Spirit Week is going to be great.” Photo: Kira Sterling
The rally, organized by the Associated Student Body, featured a performance from the Paly varsity dance team as well as a relay race.

During the relay race, five participants from each grade took part in a potato sack race, a donut eating competition, and a four-legged race.

Junior Hailey Hwang said she enjoyed the experience of her potato sack race. 

“It was a little bit chaotic,” Hwang said. “I didn’t know what was going on, but overall it was fun.”

Seniors and sophomores tied for first, with freshmen close behind in third and juniors in last place. According to senior and ASB Spirit Commissioner Paige Knoblock, classes will receive 500, 500, 200, and 100 points respectively, which will be added to their final spirit-week tallies in October. 

Knoblock, who helped plan the event, said she was excited to see the first rally of the year play out.

Juniors Leo Malchin, Zander Darby, and Ziggy Tummalapalli eat donuts as part of the relay during the back-to-school rally. Seniors and sophomores tied for first, and the freshmen narrowly beat the juniors for third. Participants from each grade took part in a potato sack race, a donut eating competition and a four-legged race in an attempt to win early points for Spirit Week. “It was a little bit chaotic,” junior participant Hailey Hwang said. “I didn’t know what was going on, but overall it was fun.” Photo: Hallie Faust

“We haven’t had too many rallies worth Spirit Week points before Spirit Week, and we thought this would be a really great way to increase participation,” Knoblock said. “Especially now that we’ve created excitement for Spirit Week with this event, I think Spirit Week’s going to be great.”

Spirit Week will be Oct. 28 to Nov. 1.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Spirit Week will be Oct. 21 to Oct. 25. Spirit Week will be Oct. 28 to Nov. 1. The earlier version also included incorrect relay results. This version has been corrected.