Pep Rally

Putting Pep Back into O’Connell’s Step

By Editor-in-Chief, Kate Pflanz ('26)

On Friday, August 29th, the first pep rally for the 2025-2026 school year kicked off in the O’Connell main gym. Celebrating Fall sports, including cross country, tennis, girls and boys soccer, field hockey, and volleyball, the pep rally showcased the different abilities of the O’Connell athletes through games like musical chairs, balloon popping, and relay races. Winners varied but competition was fierce, and before long each grade was able to put points on the scoreboard. Judges included Theology teachers Mr. Farrell and Mr. Fitzpatrick, who determined which grade performed the best in the various activities. 

Another form of competition was through singing, or rather, loud shouting. The gym was bustling with excitement and pride as each grade sang out a random song lyric by lyric, with judges giving the point to the loudest and most spirited grade. Afterwards, Coach Wootten led the traditional “GO DJO,” assigning the “GO” to the freshmen, “D” to the sophomores, “J” for the Juniors, and “O” for the seniors, until four frenzied shouts became one. As always, the O-zone Leadership club kept the enthusiasm running with the occasional cheers and shouts for the competing teams, as well as helping Coach Wootten with organization.

The O’Connell Cheerleading team, as well as the Royalettes Dance Team, performed, showcasing dynamic choreography and electric cheer routines through aerial jumps and stunts. And finally, the concluding rumble could be heard throughout the school as the designated flag runner of each grade, per O’Connell tradition, ran up the bleachers as the grades chanted “Ready…rumble!” before collapsing on the benches. Excitement and true school spirit was flowing in every student and onlooking teacher’s veins after the electric final display.

The final score? 6-4-3-2. The Seniors triumphed overall with six points, winning with a cheer battle resulting in their victory worth two points. The Juniors trailed with four points after having been tied with the Seniors before and losing the two point battle. Sophomores, after a close battle, failed to pull past three points, and Freshmen, as a warm welcome to O’Connell, were able to rack two points on the scoreboard. After the pep rally, the students rushed out of the gymnasium, running off excitement, adrenaline, and pure O’Connell pride. The pep rally finishes the first week of school off with a bang and signifies an exciting new start to the school year in the traditional, high-spirited Knights fashion.