Erin Mealey

2 March 2017

Winter Pep Rally

Middleboro High School hosted their first winter pep rally on February 17, in a highly energetic and spirited gym. Senior Nick Sclafani served as the host of the pep rally, maintaining audience energy and drawing attention to the pride and enthusiasm of MHS. The rally kicked off with lively music playing and a warm welcome to the main speaker. Josh Drean, an anti-bullying speaker and youtuber spoke to the school population about the power of kindness, positivity, and defying the harshness of bullies. In between his inspirational talks, Drean illustrated his impressive beat boxing skills that wowed the audience. He noted his story about meeting one of his beatboxing heros, showing off his skills, and eventually forming a partnership in working alongside him. Drean, along with a few friends, performed their beatboxing skills. Their skills and collaboration emphasized to students the power of following their dreams, and accomplishing the goals they set forth. Drean and friends incorporated audience interaction, allowing students to yell out an animal, which would elicit an impressive beatboxed response tying in the noise the animal makes. Throughout the speech, Drean engaged students in amusing games, including Senior Eric Dunn, Senior Jonathan Ridgeway, and Junior Bobby Scully. The Speech and Theatre workshop engaged in an entertaining game of heads up with the audience, allowing each class to give clues to their team member as to what card they were holding up, which drew attention to their upcoming show That’s Entertainment 39, Fright Night. In addition to intriguing games, the MHS band performed, leaving the audience in awe as they demonstrated their impressive musical abilities.

Toward the end of the pep rally, Drean called upon all the students who were gifted a pair of converse through the #IGiveAChuck campaign. Throughout the week, select students were given the opportunity to pick those who they believe illustrate kindness and positivity inside and outside of the classroom, giving back to the school. Each selected student was surprised in class by their peer, who explained to them why they felt they were deserving of the pair of shoes. These surprises took place all around the school building, some in classrooms and some in the cafeteria during lunch. Select students from each class were picked and celebrated. Students applauded those who were being recognized, illustrating a warming, encouraging sentiment to those who induce a positive influence in our school. Recipient of a new pair of Converse sneakers, Senior Carla Pelton, detailed, “It caught me by surprise. I was not expecting that to happen first thing in the morning,” further detailing that she was “thankful” and “excited” to be given her official pair of sneakers. At the rally, the selected recipients were gifted their official pair of sneakers, followed by an encouraging and loud audience applause. There’s even a social media campaign to promote this wonderful event at Middleboro High School through #I Give A Chuck. MHS was the kick off school for this positive campaign, detailing the hard work students, teachers and faculty alike engage in each day.