24 September, 2011
Pep rallies are a tradition for most high schools and Hopkinton High School is no exception, but the elimination of individual class colors by Principal Alyson Geary, a long standing tradition in Hopkinton, has sparked a controversy among students and attracted the attention of Fox25 News Boston. Fox25 reported live from Hopkinton’s Friday, September 23 football game, to see what some of the students and parents had to say about the changes.
In a letter dated September 21, sent to parents via the district ListServ, an electronic newsletter, Geary explained that over the past several years the tradition of individual class colors has made the rallies unsafe. This year all classes, except the senior class, will wear green. The seniors will be allowed to wear orange, their color for the last two years, but in the future Geary says she will ask all students to wear a combination of school colors rather than having a class assigned a specific color.
According to Geary, the colors, while promoting unity for each class, have taken away from overall school unity.
“The focus has turned more towards competition and contention between the classes,” said Geary in her letter, “rather than school spirit and the celebration of our sports teams and the general sense of pride in our school.”
But the colors alone are not the issue. It’s the tradition of “tagging” that Geary claims has caused incidents of harassment and bullying. Tagging is a practice, started by upper classmen, in which freshman, who always wear white, are tagged with another class color, either with a marker or a can of colored hairspray.
“Last year, teachers reported that some 9th graders hid in the bathrooms or classrooms during passing time on pep rally day for fear of being ‘tagged’ by upper classmen,” said Geary.
Fox25 interviewed several students at Friday night’s game, and all of them were opposed to the changes. One parent interviewed said that he thought political correctness had gone too far and another said it “sucks the whole purpose out of the pep rally”. The students interviewed said that tagging was fun.
Another issue not mentioned in the Fox24 News report, but included in Geary’s letter, was the serious injury of two students at last year’s pep rally. Geary claims the practice of seniors entering the rally “by running in and slamming themselves together” in the middle of the gym, was responsible for the injuries.
“As the principal of the school, I cannot allow a practice such as this, which puts the physical safety of students in jeopardy, to continue,” said Geary.
Seniors this year will be asked to design an entrance that doesn’t put anyone in danger of physical injury and Geary says she is also working with student leaders to find ways to make the rally itself more interactive and fun for all of the students and to think about other ways that the classes can express their school spirit.
In conclusion, in her letter, Geary said that her goal was to ensure the tradition of Pep Rally can continue in a safe and positive way for years to come and asked for parents’ support of her decisions.
“I hope that you will support us as we try to steer this important event in a more positive direction that will unite our school and ensure the physical and emotional safety of all of our students,” said Geary.
Click Here for the Fox News story.
To see a video of the October 2010 Pep Rally, Click Here.
HCAM News interviewed Principal Geary on Friday morning. Story to follow.
