Palo Alto High School’s Spirit Week 2011 is kicking into high gear after the first day of competition, with the seniors grabbing an early lead, with 175 points, the juniors have 130, sophomores, who have 110, and freshmen trail with 50.

The day began with a barrage of cheers exchanged between the classes, with seniors leading off with the traditional cheer “How does it feel to be a senior, senior?” 

“I think we did a really good job today and we got some good cheers off,” said Maddie Kuppe, senior class president.

The rally quickly entered into the first contest between the grades — a game of musical chairs. After a very physical game, which involved borderline violence among chair contenders, senior Lauren Borchers emerged victorious.

“I dominated for the seniors and I’ve played musical chairs every year since I was a freshman,” Borchers said. “It was really fun to finally win.”

The next contest was a dance-off, where a competitor from each class danced to LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” while attempting to put on costume clothes.

The juniors and seniors each advanced to the final round, with the sophomores and freshmen losing for the second time of the day.

The final activity of the day was the “best-dressed” contest, where each grade sent two competitors to be judged by their peers.

Yet again, the freshmen were quickly eliminated due to lack of class support. The juniors followed suit, finishing third before the judges determined the sophomore class to be best dressed for the day, earning the seniors second place and the sophomores first.

“I think today was kind of rough around the edges because we didn’t really know what to expect, but I think we will start moving along and it will get better,” said Claire Liu, freshman class president.

The rally was characterized by loud cheers and class support among all grades.

“One word: Loud,” sophomore Ghenki Okumoto said.

Overall the rally was considered a success by those involved.

“It was perfect,” Principal Phil Winston said. “There was energy, good attitude and people were getting along.”

Tomorrow is salad dressing day. Freshmen are healthy choice (athletic theme), sophomores are ranch (cowboy/girl theme), juniors are thousand island (tropical island theme) and seniors are caesar salad (togas). The rally will be held during lunch on the quad.