Ripon High has successfully hosted their first rally of the school year: the Black Light Spirit Rally! The rally was on Aug. 23 and it was a warm welcome for the freshmen and an exciting return for the seniors. The rally kicked off with an awesome entrance from this year’s rally commissioners, sophomore Justin Saltsman and senior Richard Langenfeld. They brought the best out of the student body and excited the crowd.

This is Langenfeld’s second and last year as a rally commissioner. “Just being able to be out in front of everyone and make sure that everyone gets hyped up for the rallies is just great. It’s really cool seeing your whole class engage with you,” said Lagenfeld.

Afterwards, they introduced the most spirited students on campus: the cheerleaders. They performed their iconic “Do it!” cheer and a routine as well. Then, four RHS students received an award from the Veterans of Foreign War. They were seniors Jada Yapp, Claire Morris, Madison Quismorio, and Mia Blancarte. 

“My dad is a part of the VFW so it was important for me to participate and help them out since they needed it,” explained Blancarte.

Once the awards were announced, the rally commissioners called multiple students down from the audience to begin a game that involved grabbing the cup first from the opposing player. The game came down to two students: sophomore Jaden Becerra and senior Teo West. From previous years, West has been involved in the majority of the rally games and has won them. So, this time was no different and West ended the game with a victory. 

To conclude the rally, multiple leadership students participated in announcing this year’s Homecoming theme: Once Upon a Time. They acted out four different fairytale stories that coordinate with each classes’ specific theme: freshmen are Beauty and the Beast, sophomores are Alice in Wonderland, juniors are Cinderella, and lastly, the seniors are Rapunzel. This furthered everyone’s excitement for this year’s Homecoming.

Welcome back Ripon High!