Green beaded necklaces. Colored face paint. The lively chaos of stomping feet. Palo Alto High School students gathered Wednesday at the Big Gym for a back-to school-spirit rally.

The spirit rally was originally meant to happen last Friday, but was postponed after a guest speaker went overtime. The rally was organized by Leilani Chen and Roy Jiang, spirit commissioners for the Paly Associated Student Body. 

Chen stated in an email with The Paly Voice that months of planning for the rally was meant to bring hype and spirit to the student body.  

“I want students to take away a deep sense of belonging in this school and community and know that this place really is their home,” Chen stated. “I thought the song [“Home” by Phillip Phillips, sung by staff] was actually very beautiful and wholesome. Our whole ‘goal’ with the rally is to make students feel like they are proud to be here and a part of the community.” 

Activities on Wednesday opened with a junior victory in Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Cup, where groups of two competed against each other to grab a cup. Other highlights included a wig-snatching contest and pizza box knockout. Winners received bedazzled viking helmets.

Senior Trevor Milne said the rally inspired camaraderie for him with other members of the student body. 

“It’s nice to give us a little bit of time to settle back into school before we do the fun school things,” Milne said. “Even if I don’t share interests necessarily with some of the people in the group that I’m chanting with, we all have a common part of our identity and we get to show our enthusiasm for it.” 

Junior Maya Moura said she enjoyed the spirit activities at Wednesday’s rally. 

“It makes me feel happy to see our whole class come together and cheer for the same group,” Moura said. “It was unfortunate that it got delayed, but I’m happy that they were able to make it happen.”

Last Friday’s assembly opened with a speech from Elena Salvatierra, former president of Paly’s Bring Change 2 Mind club. It featured guest speaker Morgan Hannaleck from Minding Your Mind, an organization dedicated to providing mental health education and encourage help-seeking behavior. She spoke about her teenage experience with depression, eating disorders and other mental health struggles. It was followed by staff members singing “Home” by Phillip Phillips while students quickly joined in with clapping and waving bright phone flashlights last Friday at the big gym.

Principal Brent Kline said bringing in Hannaleck was a way to share someone’s story in overcoming mental health challenges and to start the year with a message that support is always there.

“Both both Paly and Gunn [Henry M. Gunn High School] this year are spending extra time to provide resources for our kids in terms of mental health and suicide prevention,” Kline said. “Some kids walked away with awareness of what to look for … that’s exactly what we want to share with you as we go through our training with our students later on in the school year.”

According to Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson, the assembly was meant to bring the school closer together. 

“There were a lot of people who came out of their comfort zone, such as me, singing in front of them [the assembly crowd],” Berkson said. “It was pretty cool that they [students in the crowd] got into it, and I think it was genuine. It wasn’t just a bunch of kids screwing around. It was genuine enjoying the music and enjoying the choice of the song.”

Senior Brooke Breitenstein said she appreciated that the talk brought awareness to mental health struggles. 

“I like that they [the speaker] are blunt and they actually give signs of depression and stuff, so you know better when to get help,” Breitenstein said.

Junior Johnny Gu said he appreciated that the Friday assembly brought more awareness to mental health issues. 

“The speech was very, very impactful, and hopefully it resonated with a lot of people,” Gu said. “Mental health is something that I do believe is stigmatized, so I do appreciate that there was this opportunity for people to hear more.”

According to freshman Cora Lee, she thought the Friday assembly was fun and engaging.

“Everyone here actually dresses up for spirit for assemblies and stuff like this, and it was really fun to see everyone have fun and be energized and support classmates and teachers in the school,” Lee said. “I feel like we’re [Paly] kind of a really big community, but it’s still a community that I feel welcomed in.”