Colors, crowds, cheering — The Homecoming Pep Rally is one of the most exciting events of the school year. It is filled to the brim with joy, pride, and amusement because of the music, dances, games, and many other activities that take place. It is the school event that brings all jaguars together and away from the stress of classrooms in the name of school spirit.
This past Friday, our school held its second pep rally of the year — and in one word, it was better than the last.
“The Homecoming Pep Rally is always highly anticipated. I know that. I, as well as the student government officers, are really excited about it and it marks the kickoff to what will be an exceptional spirit week,” said Ms. Helena Castro, Miami Lakes Educational Center’s (MLEC) Activities Director.
“This year, there will be a special reveal that will take place during the course of the pep rally,” disclosed Ms. Castro.
And Ms. Castro, like always, did not disappoint with the stated surprise.
After the pep rally started, the alma mater started playing, students held up their phones’ flashlights, and in a matter of seconds, an unexpected thing happened: the mascot, which hadn’t seen the gymmnasium’s walls in over five years, came out surprising everyone.
Everyone — including teachers — cheered.
It was something that nobody anticipated. All student jaguars, even the senior class, never had the privilege to meet the school’s mascot before. It had become a memory plastered in yearbooks and old social media photos. But MLEC’s mascot took one more lap around the same gymnasium that had witnessed it run around for over a decade — what nobody would expect, this would be its last run.
The jaguar collapsed in the middle of the gym, the EMR students rushed with a gurney, and the old mascot was wheeled away, never to be seen again.
Then the lights started repeatedly flashing to everyone’s confusion. And from the front side of the gym, a second surprise appeared: our new, young mascot came in dancing, doing rapid hand movements, and hyping up the student crowd.
The event was a farewell to the old mascot and a homecoming to our brand new “Mel EC.”
“SGA (Student Government Association) really pushed to get a new mascot,” explained Ms. Castro as how the idea to revive that part of the pep rally came to be. “Our old mascot had been here longer than I had. This would be my 14th year at the school and it honestly was time to give the mascot a tune up,” she continued.
The introduction of our new mascot was definitely a memorable moment of the pep rally. Nobody expected it. But, it wasn’t the only highlight of the afternoon.
“It’s difficult to come up with things that are new and I think there are really two big elements [that played on this past pep rally]. We introduced the new mascot — and I think that was exciting,” said Ms. Castro. “And then there was the exciting opportunity to recognize our student athletes, which was my favorite part,” Ms. Castro continued.
Our school is not known as a sport-driven school, but that does not mean that our students do not partake in athletics. In fact, we have over 40 students participating in different sports. From basketball, to bowling, to volleyball and swimming — jaguars go out of their way to participate in sports at their home schools.
One by one, each jaguar athlete was called down to the center of the gym, where the rest of the school watched closely and cheered for them.
After the students received their long-overdue recognition, we had our regular pep rally games. This time we had an extremely fun one though: wrapping teachers in toilet paper.
The class officers of each respective year ran to wrap Mrs. Mezawi (Class of 2020), Mr. Puentes (Class of 2021), Ms. Navarette (Class of 2022), and Ms. Devries (Class of 2023). Out of the mummification process, Class of 2022 reigned victorious.
It was simply a fun event to watch.
To say the least, this past pep rally was different — better. It served as the beginning mark of a new era — a new mascot, a new way to recognize our athletic students — and the beginning mark of our school’s official spirit week (which started today), where jaguars will participate in a week-wide activity calendar filled with designated days for costumes and creativity.
“We have a lot to celebrate at MLEC. We are definitely not a traditional school but friday reflects how unique and special MLEC is,” said Ms. Castro. “At MLEC, we simply have a lot to brag about.”
After this second pep rally, one can truly say that these are exciting times to be a jaguar.
