This year, due to the surprisingly high early October temperatures, the annual OH pep assembly was moved from the afternoon to the morning.
“It was a little last-minute… but it ended up being a positive change,” said Student Council sponsor and social studies teacher Anne Sweeney, who is in charge of planning the pep assembly.
The majority of OH members were content with the time arrangement. Besides the change of time, everything else stayed the same. The OH pep assembly happens the day before the school’s homecoming in the OH football stadium.
All students and staff attend the event, and some participated in the activities. OH Assistant Athletic Director and social studies teacher Mark Johnson said he liked that ”whether it’s the cheer, the dance, the band playing… everybody gets involved with [the pep assembly].”
The OH Commotion started the pep rally by singing the national anthem. Afterward, the OH Pantherettes performed.
“This week we worked really hard at practices,” said OH junior and varsity Pantherette Jazleen De La Torre. “I like performing with my team because it is super rewarding, especially after.”
Apart from their solo performance, Pantherettes brought out some of the OH varsity football players to perform with them. Then, the newly-crowned Mr. Oswego, Kyle Taylor, performed his WWE stunt.
“I was really happy we got to have our Mr. Oswego perform after two years of having no Mr. Oswego,” said Sweeney.
Following this, the OH varsity softball team stepped up to celebrate their 2025 IHSA State 4A Championship.
Next, the OH JV cheer team performed their chant and then their stunts. The varsity cheer team followed, giving a grand performance.
Later, the nominated juniors and freshmen participated in the tug of war, and the juniors took the win.
Seniors and sophomores went after; seniors took the win. Seniors won against juniors, and seniors won against the staff in the championship finale.
After, seniors Ali Bauman and Michael Holmstrom were announced as the 2025 homecoming king and queen.
Toward the end of the assembly, several OH staff members, dressed in animal inflatables, participated in a race across the track. The winner of the race was English teacher Adam Gordon.
This win was a shock from prior years because Johnson had won three years in a row.
“Me and Mrs. Sharp… Our inflatables wouldn’t blow up… I sort of stayed in the back… but hats off to Mr. Gordon,” said Johnson, who was dressed as a pig.
“Gordon’s going down next year. You’d better watch out!” he laughed.
Finally, the band and color guard ended the pep assembly with a splendid performance.
De La Torre said she “like[s] watching their unison.”
As the students left the bleachers and headed back to their classes, they were sure that, regardless of the last-minute change in schedule, the pep assembly was a success.
“It really brought the whole school together and united us,” said OH sophomore Teagan Mace.
Hello!!! My name is Jia Nair, and I am a sophomore at Oswego High School. It is my first year on the staff 42Fifty. At OHS, I am involved in BIONIC, Youth and Government, Girl Scouts, and Business Professionals of America. I also serve as the president of The Rightfully Project. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication.
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