“The morning of the assembly we rehearsed for around an hour. The people who had speaking parts, for example introducing certain things like the band, or the nest leaders had to take the microphone and practice what they were going to say, and the nest leaders had to practice their chants. We really just ran through everything to make sure everything was going smoothly,” said Brooklyn Wilcox, one of the Student Body Presidents at Cactus Shadows.
There is a ton of planning, rehearsing, practice, and effort that goes on behind the scenes for an assembly. Planning for an assembly starts about a week or two in advance, however, it takes until the night before or even until the morning of the assembly to see the final project come together. These last minute adjustments include setting everything up, and rehearsing to make sure everything little detail is perfect and in sync.
“I was most excited to bring some semblance of normalcy to the students. It has been two and a half years if you think about it, half the school had never been to a pep rally, football game, or knew our cheers,” Allison Zilka, Student Council Advisor.
During after school meetings, the student council works on the yard art gets painted, everybody gets assigned what they were going to say and when they were going to say it, and new ideas on how to make the assembly even better come about.
“We have assemblies to get people hyped and excited for school while bringing a more positive and united aspect to the environment,” Christain Waters, another Student Body President at Cactus Shadows.
School can be a challenging thing, especially during a post-COVID-19 year. Assemblies help unify the student body and get them a little more excited for school. It shows that students and faculty members are united as one, which can provide a strong foundation for the academic school year.
Assemblies encourage the student body to get involved with school functions. Bringing awareness to the clubs and sports that could be joined, and to the upcoming sports games, helping to show school spirit. club or sport, or going to a sports game to show support for our school. Helping the students to identify within their school and become active in the community. If the assembly is motivating it can help the students stay motivated for school. Assemblies can become a powerful event that can inspire a sense of school spirit while giving the feeling of belonging to something larger.