On Friday, October 8, 2015, West Bloomfield High School students from all grades gathered in the gymnasium for the annual Homecoming pep assembly. The pep assembly occurs every year at the end of spirit week and on the Friday of the Homecoming football game. The festivities allow students to get excited for the upcoming weekend, also building up suspense for the reveal of homecoming king and queen. With freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors all seated, the assembly bega

After a quick introduction, the assembly kicked off with a performance by the marching band and color guard. Moments after their song finished, the club and sports parade commenced with students from all after school activities holding up banners and walking around the gym. The parade ended with the football team filing in, chanting and getting students excited for the game that night. Following the team’s entrance, a short video about the football team played, recapping the season and their 6-0 record, which would become 7-0 that night.

The assembly quickly transitioned into a game of tug-of-war. The first round saw freshmen and sophomores battle it out, resulting in a sophomore win. Following that round the juniors and seniors fought in a lengthy struggle, but to the seniors dismay, the juniors won. The juniors and sophomores then started the final match, and the juniors won again. This is the third year in a row that the class of 2017 has won the tug-of-war battle.

The WBHS Poms team went onto the gymnasium floor dancing to a mashup of songs related to the homecoming theme: Survive Our Swamp. While Poms exited, the Homecoming Court nominees were announced. Instead of going back to their seats, the homecoming court nominees participated in a complicated obstacle course against various staff members. Among other things, participants had to shoot a basket after being spun around multiple times, army crawl under several ropes connected by cones, hop in sleeping bags to a line, search for a combination code, and finally unlock a suitcase. In the end, the seniors were victorious.

Following the obstacle course was a performance by WBHS cheerleaders and then the results of the most spirited class. Juniors ended up being the least spirited with freshmen in third place, sophomores in second, and as per usual, seniors in first. Then a live version of Hungry Hungry Hippos was played by representatives from each class. The teams had two minutes to collect the most balls. Seniors won this game as well.

After Hungry Hungry Hippos, the WBHS Poms team came out for a second dance with male partners. After the dance each grade had to sing their designated class song for the assembly and the grade was scored on how loudly they could sing. Again, seniors won this competition.

To close the assembly, the WBHS staff took over the gymnasium floor and started their annual staff dance. Many students remarked on the way out that it was one of the best staff dances they have ever seen with some highlights including staff Hitting the Quan, doing the Stanky Leg and then Whipping and Nae Nae’ing. The staff dance received a lot of applause, probably from students happy to see their teachers having fun dancing. Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter were filled with videos of the teachers dancing.

The pep assembly united students and staff, giving them time to get excited for the game that night and the dance the following night. While some students did skip the event, most people who went felt happy to see fellow students and staff members fool around and be happy on the day that some consider to be the start of one of the most important weekend for high schoolers.