Highlands Pep Club

Later, they gathered at a friend’s house for the kickoff party, where music was playing, snacks were everywhere, and there was a table full of gifts to take home. They were ready to show their school spirit at the game and cheer on the Birds to another victory. 

Highlands students during this time would go to school pep rallies on Fridays before football games, attend or host kickoff parties with their friends, or even join the school's pep club. Receiving little trinkets to wear, like ribbons or beanies, showed the Bluebirds’ school pride.At these events, this custom was very common and celebrated by students. 

Kickoff parties held before football games were a treasured tradition. Occasionally, hosts would reach out to someone new to the school and invite them to help them get involved in the school's culture, as a way for new kids to connect with everyone. The parties were not school-regulated and instead held in different homes each week. The hosts of the parties wanted something for their friends to remember them by and separate their party from the rest.

“... they'd invite you over, and usually there'd be, like, a dinner. They'd do something to signify, kinda that we had been all together with a kickoff party, which is where the beanies came in,” alumna Mary Jo Bauman Roth said. 

Football games were and still are one of the most important parts of Highlands' school culture. Fridays in the fall were an important tradition, with pep rallies, shortened classes to make time for them, and kickoff parties after school. It was an all-day function for the kids, no matter how popular they might be. The Bluebirds’ love of football games created a common ground for them.

“Everybody was there (pep rallies) for the same reason, and so, maybe you sat next to somebody that you didn't normally sit next to or didn't have classes with or something. So, it was a…very good spirit promoter,” said Jan Luker, alumna.

“So, the pep rallies were honestly super fun because you had the entire student body. They always had the football players…sitting in chairs on the gym floor…., The band always played, the cheerleaders usually did like a skit or something, and then led a couple of cheers. 
And I think the coaches might have given a little, “Yay, go Highlands!” kind of speech. It was really fun,” said Luker. 

The students would collect different versions of the artifacts each week that would sometimes connect to the opponent. On the ribbons, the clever saying was to motivate the players and make the students more excited. They would wear the ribbons out to the games, helping the students feel like a more collective group. Sometimes the girls would customize theirs with flowers or streamers. At the kickoff parties, the favors would be connected to Highlands and whatever sport they were supporting.

“...usually two or three seniors would get together, and host these parties at one of their houses… Jan and I had one, and every time you would go, you would get a favor. And so we decided we were going to make bean footballs, little beanbag Footballs,” Gwen Stegman (Brichler) said. 

The different ways that Highlands students in the 1970s would celebrate their team were special in their own unique ways. From parties at friends' houses to joining the pep club, the students really knew how to show their Bluebird pride. These artifacts represent the sense of support that they felt for Highlands. They were having so much fun with each other,  contributing to their great school. The spirit these students had paved the way for the unity that is still carried on today.

“We just had so much fun with it that people wanted to be a part of it,” Stegmen (Brichler) said.