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CHS Crimson & Gold Staff

The ROTC Color Guard led off the rally with their presentation of flags as Vivian Guevara sang the National Anthem.

Colton, CA—The week may have started with the cancellation of the winter dance, but it ended with an outstanding display of school spirit.

On Friday during sixth period, ASB held the winter pep rally in the Hubbs. Arranged around an “Aladdin”-inspired “Arabian Nights” theme, the event was a showcase of Colton’s winter sports teams, dance team, jazz ensemble, and graduating class spirit.

Highlights of the event included competition cheer performing their CIF qualifying routine, the dance team’s lyrical routine to the songs “Arabian Nights” and “Beautiful Liar,” and jazz ensemble’s funky performance of Thomas Newman’s “Buffalo Head.”

Dance team came out in thematically appropriate costumes and treated the crowd to a terrific dance number. Sophomore Emily Parada, one of the team members, was proud of her teammates for their performance. “I like how united we were for this pep rally,” she said. “I felt like we were all speaking with one another and knowing exactly what everyone was going to do.”

Games got the crowd involved. The most popular was “Magic Carpet Ride,” a racing game in which the participants were dragged up and down the Hubbs floor on a long sheet. Winners were awarded spirit gear.

“It was hilarious,” said Erin Dallatorre, who decided to get involved when she saw none of the juniors were stepping up. “I thought it was so fun and funny. I thought it would be a great opportunity for me and my best friend Isaac to do it.”

During the first rally, a game called “Pom Poms” was played in which participants had to follow spoken directions in anticipation of grabbing a pom-pom before their competition. ASB recognized this game did not get quite the same response as “Magic Carpet Ride,” and removed it from the second rally’s program.

“ASB did amazing,” ASB adviser Alexandra Buskirk said. “Second semester is all about me letting them take the reins on a lot of things, and they did spectacularly; they executed flawlessly.”

Each of the winter sports teams were introduced to take center stage in the Hubbs and thank their peers for all the fan support for the 2022-23 season.

Wrestling captain Jose Ramirez was not present to introduce his teammates because he was participating in the CIF Masters tournament.

As always, the rally ended with a round of class chants. Class leadership shot off confetti cannons and even tossed spirit gear into the crowd.