Homecoming week 2019 kicked off with a pep rally on Oct. 28 in Jupiter High’s gym.

Students were encouraged to wear their class colors on Monday: seniors wore black, juniors wore green, sophomores wore yellow and freshman wore white.

School spirit has increased this year compared to previous years.

“I feel like the senior class has come together this year and agreed that since it is our last year, we wanted to make the most of it,” senior Andrew Newman said. “When the other grades look up to us and see us having school spirit, they will do the same.”

Full of exciting moments where the crowd screamed and clapped, the pep rally was a success. For the first time this year, the crowd-pleasing Warrior Dance Team performed a hip-hop routine. The crowd also enjoyed watching the cheerleaders and color guard perform. A particularly fun moment was when football players participated in a game where their classmates dressed them like women, relay-style, and then the boys strutted around the gym for a fashion show.

“It was lit. I definitely want to see the boys dress up again,” freshman Olivia Martin said. “I loved the dance team…they were fire.”

Student Government Association has been planning Homecoming since the end of the 2018-2019 school year.

“These kids spend hours and weeks preparing for this pep rally. Seeing the students get so excited, really pays off on all the hard work the students put into preparing the pep rally,” SGA adviser Mike Deleonardo said.

SGA members said they were very excited to see the crowd’s spirit and energy.

“A lot of people participated in not only just showing spirit at the pep rally, but the class color theme which was really exciting to see everyone join in school spirit that way,” sophomore Maddie Hund, a student on SGA, said.

The Homecoming court was announced at the pep rally and said they were so excited to be able to show their spirit as they walked around the gym.

“The energy of the crowd was really enthusiastic and well-spirited, I loved seeing everyone so happy,” freshman Nina Torres said, a member of the Homecoming court.

Members of the Warrior Dance Team were equally excited for their first performance of the year.

“We didn’t do the last pep rally, but with this one I felt that everyone was excited to see us perform which was nice because we’ve been working very hard,” junior Dance Team member Emma Kearns said.

Homecoming pep rallies show how spirited and energetic the student body can be.

“I think this pep rally was a lot cooler and filled with more spirit than your usual ones,” sophomore JV cheerleader Karson Ilhardt said. “It’d be nice to see this level of energy at every one, but it was still amazing.”

As always, the Spirit of Jupiter marching band performed at the pep rally with the color guard taking the mat to perform with their flags and rifles, something they only do at football games and competitions.

“I think the students had a better energy at this [pep rally],” color guard member Trista Palette said.

As well, the crowd recognized the football team, with a winning record, and celebrated them at the pep rally to help get them excited for Friday’s Homecoming game.

“I like how we’re recognized and how that we brought out a lot of school spirit and we really appreciate how many kids and staff have been coming to our games to support and cheer us on,” sophomore wide receiver Joey Urban said.

Jupiter High’s staff and administration were also excited about the boost in spirit to kick off Homecoming week.

“It’s always awesome to see the student body support each other and show school spirit in an amazing and exhilarating way,” Assistant Principal Raymond Collum said.