School spirit and athletics have always gone hand-in-hand here at PMHS, and each school year the tradition of Pelican Pride is celebrated with the annual pep rally for fall sports teams. This year the “Your Voice Matters” committee thought it was time to extend the tradition into the winter season as well, and on February 9, for the first time, Pelham Memorial hosted a Winter Pep Rally.

Students and teachers gathered in the middle school gym at the start of period 9 greeted by a lively performance by the PMHS’ band and an impressive display of tumbling and dance by the varsity Cheer Team. Next, the varsity track team took a bow, and team captain senior Harrison Harvey discussed their recent win at League Championships and hopes for success at State Qualifiers. Both girls and boys varsity basketball also made appearances, along with the debut of the boys varsity swim team. Missing in action was the ice hockey team which, unfortunately, had a scheduled “away” game.

Assistant Principal Mr. Judd Rothstein, creator of “Your Voice Matters” explained how the Winter Pep Rally came to be.

“During one of our meetings, it was suggested that we look into the possibility of creating a winter pep rally to acknowledge our winter athletes. Independent of that committee, a couple of senior student athlete representatives approached me and requested the same thing. In the spirit of listening to student voices, I met with Principal Clark and Mr. Luciana who both green-lighted the idea,” Mr. Rothstein said

Although the pep rally’s spotlight was on the sports teams, another highlight of the event was when students and faculty members took part in a three point contest. Senior Jayson Reynolds sunk the only student three-pointer, winning his first period class a breakfast the following Monday. The faculty showed their school spirit as well by participating. Faculty athletes included physics teacher Mr. Lindley, history teacher Mr. Scott, living environment teacher Mr. Pena, English teacher Ms. Kiessling and health teacher Ms. Lundy. Unfortunately, though they all prove to be superstars in the classroom, not a single faculty member successfully made the three-pointer.

The spirit displayed at the winter pep rally led many to believe that this will become a PMHS tradition.