Palo Alto High School’s cheerleaders are hosting the school’s first Heroes Rally after school on Friday, Sept. 11, to honor local heroes in the community, according to junior cheerleader Laura Rohde.

“This rally is intended to honor members of the Palo Alto Fire Department for doing all that they do,” cheerleading coach Hilary McDaniel said. “We also want to honor the coaches for the fall sports because they play such a large role in the students’ lives.”

There will be a variety of activities throughout the rally, as well as performances by Paly’s cheerleading team, band and choir. Quiznos will offer $5 meals, each of which includes two Quiznos Sammies, a drink, chips and a cookie.

“Students should come prepared to be spirited!” Rohde said. “And [they should] also participate with the activities and honor the firefighters.”

McDaniel sees this event as an opportunity to introduce rallies to students.

“We have the opportunity to do something that is unique to high school,” McDaniel said. “We want students to think rallies are fun and want everyone to find something they liked about it. There are not many opportunities to do this when you’re [an] adult.”

Competitions between Paly sports teams will be judged by the event’s honorary guests, Palo Alto firefighters.

“We hope the coaches and firefighters will jump in with the activities and interact with the students and mix things up,” McDaniel said.

In addition to being an opportunity to honor local heroes, this rally is also an opportunity for the cheerleaders to get more involved with their school, according to McDaniel

“One of my goals for this year is to get the cheerleaders more directly involved in spirit activities,” McDaniel said. “When we [the Paly cheerleaders] were introduced to this idea of a hero rally at summer camp, we thought it seemed appropriate to have a rally to honor people on this day.”

The rally will be from 12-1 p.m., followed by the first football game of the season.