Edgemont Junior-Senior High School athletes gathered to welcome the winter sports season with a pep rally in the school gymnasium Friday, Dec. 9, 2022.
“Any time we can get the students together and celebrate the school and inspire school spirit is great,” said Principal Kyle Hosier.
One by one, the teams strode or jogged to the center of gymnasium to cheers. Some teams entertained their schoolmates with a contest or routine. The boys basketball team held a dunking competition. The girls basketball team tossed lollipops and bubble gum to the crowd. And a member of the boys wrestling team tussled with the Edgemont Panther, the mascot, who was later revealed to be junior Wyatt Aslanian.
Aslanian was following in the footsteps – or paw steps – of his brother, six years his senior, who also donned the panther suit when he was at the school.
“I guess it just runs in the family,” he said. He was glad to help get the crowd excited about the new sports season, in which Edgemont will compete in boys swimming, girls and boys basketball, boys wrestling, boys and girls indoor track, girls gymnastics and skiing.
Superintendent Dr. Kenneth R. Hamilton said the rally, presented by the Panther Pride Club, was an uplifting celebration, especially after the pandemic prevented so many other events from being held in person.
“It is so refreshing to see our students be able to all gather in one place to celebrate each other,” Dr. Hamilton said. “While it is great to experience the excitement and camaraderie at the pep rally, the bigger takeaway is we get to see the joy in our students as they reclaim meaningful, full-scale social interactions the pandemic had stolen from them.”
That sentiment was echoed by Abigail Lewis, a senior on the girls basketball team, who emceed the celebration. She said the pep rally, along with another held earlier this school year, was a welcome return to normal.
“It’s the first time in a while that we all get to be together,” she said.
View schedules for the winter sports here.
