Shouts of “Cardinal Pride, Cardinal Pride, red and white” filled the bleachers last Friday during 7th period as varsity cheerleaders chanted cheers and led a packed gym during this year’s first pep rally. Birdkeepers and Booster Club members formed a tunnel welcoming football players as each one of them was announced. 

Celebrating the start of the school year, cheerleaders, Belles and band members performed for more than 300 students and teachers.

Senior and Booster Club president Ainsley Pinkerton passed out “spirit sticks,” awarded to students who exemplify school pride. The ultimate goal of the Birdkeepers and Booster Club is to get the crowd excited and ensure everyone is having fun.

“For the pep rally, we have to give the people what they want, by jumping up and down and screaming the chants or doing the band dances with cheer,” Pinkerton said. “The key to being a booster or birdkeeper is being loud, and I think we’ve got a pretty good team for that this year.”

Before the pep rally, the Belles and football team participated in the first part of their annual gift exchange yesterday. One Belle and one football player are randomly paired together for the season, allowing athletes to bond closely with each other.

Senior Belle Alex Alleyne and senior football player Sebastian Quinonez were each other’s “buddies.”

“It’s a yearly tradition for the Belles to hand out gift bags for the football players, so I asked Sebastian what snacks he was interested in and personalized the bag for him,” Alleyne said. “I think this tradition is special because it helps us develop a newfound friendship with our gift buddies throughout the exchanges.”

The football players and Belles support each other throughout the year, continuing the gift exchange during homecoming weekend.

“It means a lot since we put a lot of work in and get a lot of support from everyone,” Quinonez said.