SGA issues caution about pep rally

The SGA President came over the P.A. system at the end of third period today, Fri Nov 1, with an announcement addressing student behavior during pep rallies and Saturday's Homecoming dance.

President Sara Furlow made the announcement following the inappropriate behavior that caused the Fri Oct 11 pep rally to be cancelled. That pep rally was rescheduled to today.

In today's announcement, Furlow asked students to be "respectful and courteous," and reminded students that "the focus of all pep rallies should be school and team pride."

Furlow had intended to make a similar announcement regarding inappropriate behavior before the last pep rally. "We were going to make an announcement similar to [today's announcement] because of behavior that's happened in previous years, but we couldn't because there was no pep rally," she said.

In that announcement, Furlow also intended to address the then ongoing sniper attacks and pay respect to those who had died. "We were going to have a moment of silence for those people who got shot by the sniper, and then I was going to make the announcement," she said.

A transcript of Furlow's announcement is reprinted below:

May I have your attention for a very important announcement? Shortly we will be having the first pep rally of the 2002-2003 school year, but before we do this, I think it best if I ask and answer an important question: "What is a pep rally?" A pep rally is an event that encourages energy and high spirits. The focus of all pep rallies should be school and team pride. During this pep rally we strongly encourage every student to be respectful and courteous to sports teams and those performers presenting today. All students must report to their 7th period class for attendance from where they will go as a class to pep rally after being called down. Homecoming tickets will be sold after school until 3:30. We would like to remind you that the dance tomorrow is from 7-11 pm. Every student needs to bring their Blair ID and each couple should have at least one ID. We hope you will enjoy yourself today and tomorrow. Thank you for your time and patience.