In the very heart of the Cavalier gymnasium, the sound of drums rang out like a heartbeat; what was once a crowd waiting with anticipation turns into a clamor of cheering and shooting, signaling that a pep rally had begun. Instead of being decked out in red, on Nov. 10th, the gym was engulfed into a sea filled with different shades of pink, demonstrating students’ support for breast cancer research at Coral Gables Senior High.

Starting at 6:50 a.m on the day of the pep rally, Mrs. Noval, Ms. Depaola, Mrs. Monzon, Mrs. Camacho and Mrs. D’Alemberte opened their classroom doors to a wave of Cavaliers who were eagerly awaiting the chance to buy a wristband, securing their spot at the pep rally.

From their experience as the Alma Mater Pep Rally masters of ceremony, seniors Helena Machado and Julio Bonjoch made ample preparations to ensure that the rally would commence at 1:40 p.m. on the dot. It was not long before these seasoned veterans generated an eruption of cheers and roars pouring from the stands, particularly from the Class of 2023. 

“As one of the mc’s, the pep rally was really fun. I got to see the excitement in everyone’s face when CavMan came out after being late and everyones excitement and pride in their grade level when we started to do the games with the different graduation classes,” senior Julio Bonjoch said.

Although there were 500 people mixed in the crowd, one person did not go unnoticed. At the center of the gym, “Baby Cav Boy”, Rafael Hanono, was seen prancing around with a pep, looking for his senior counterpart. Impatiently waiting, the MC’s had to make a quick phone call before Armando Camejo, “Cav Man”, came rushing out frantically, ushering in a new wave of cheering and clapping.

With the crowd now in higher spirits, the Gables cheerleaders performed their impressive stunts, resulting in excitement from the crowd. 

“I really loved the crowd’s energy especially during our performance and stunts, which we have been working on for months. For the football dance part, I think that was my favorite part since it was kind of a surprise to the crowd that the football players were willing to dance. When it was our turn, I saw everyone with their phones out to record. I was glad that everyone was so hyped up about it, a lot of people were still talking about it even after the pep rally,” senior Trisha Pana said.

For this pep rally, the grade levels competed against each other. The freshmen versus sophomores were up first, in the hula hoop game. The sophomores maintained a steady lead throughout which ultimately led to them winning the round.

The Gablettes then brought it all home with their performance of several Latin songs, including Bad Bunny. Next up were the juniors competing against the seniors. To the crowd’s surprise, the seniors made an early error, giving the juniors the win. In the final round of hula hoop it came down to the sophomores vs juniors, where the Class of 2024 came out victorious.

In the final game for the underclassmen, the Cavaliers had to hold each other’s hands between their legs until they formed a human chain. On the MC’s signal, they had to begin walking backwards. The person at the end of the chain would then lay down and everyone else followed suit like a line of dominos. The first attempt of the game was a failure as both teams broke the rules and let go of each other’s hands. The sophomores ended up committing this infraction again in a redo which gave the freshmen the win. 

“At the Alma Pep Rally, I arrived a little bit late and did not get the best seat to watch the performance. This being my second time around, I arrived as soon as we were given the all clear to head to the gymnasium. Being in the front middle row allowed me to enjoy the pep rally since there wasn’t anyone blocking my view,” junior Victoria Largaespada said.

Gables Pride Swells at Alma Mater Pep Rally

The upperclassmen played a friendly battle of tug of war for their last game. For the first five seconds, the rope would not budge. However, inch by inch, the juniors managed to disrupt the seniors’ grip on the rope. As the competition raged on, the seniors started to get what appeared to be a comeback, but the juniors swiftly relinquished that and overpowered them.

Additionally, to commemorate this year’s football season, the football seniors traded their helmets and mouthguards for pom poms. Without any prior dance instruction, the players were able to keep up with the cheerleaders’ high jumps and dance maneuvers. 

As per Gables tradition, the day concluded with the singing of the Alma Mater. No matter the grade level, every student pointed at the Alma Mater plaque up on the wall and sang the eight lines that are known to every Cavalier. 

To watch a recap of the Pink Pep Rally click here.