Rallies are meant to unify the student body by encouraging school spirit, but they do not have that effect on everyone.  While some students are willing to proudly stand up and cheer for their class, others feel awkward under the pressure to make a  false show of enthusiasm.

This year, junior Shayan Pashai and his friends have decided to organize a petition to make attendance at the rallies optional.  They are seeking support from students, teachers, counselors and administrators.

“Our school needs to respect diversity,” Pashai said.  “Some people aren’t as outgoing as others, and we shouldn’t try to force them to show school spirit if they feel uncomfortable with that.”

Pashai believes that rallies should be optional because they do not relate to everyone on campus.  Many students, like junior Chloe Criez, resent being a captive audience to performances that have little or nothing to do with their own lives.  Criez suggests that rallies would be more exciting if they included a wider variety of activities to interest everyone.

Ms. Andrea Greco, the leadership teacher, is shocked that students started the petition without discussing the issue with her first.

“If people feel like they aren’t being represented in the rallies, they are more than welcome to come and talk to me about it,” Ms. Greco said.  “Making rallies optional would be detrimental to Monte Vista because we would be missing that element of togetherness.”

Math teacher Ms. Amy Dreiling agrees with Ms. Greco.

“Rallies should be mandatory because they bring students together, which we don’t get to do very often.  They get kids excited about sports and excited about school!” Ms. Dreiling said.

Some students, however, do not seem to catch this excitement from the rallies.

“Rallies are supposed to get you pumped up, but they don’t really do that for me.  I think they’re mostly just fun for the people who are in them,” junior Elizabeth Wolske said.

Wolske’s attitude is shared by many students, including seniors Kirsten Pearsons and Kelsey Doolittle, who avoided attending this year’s back-to-school rally by making excuses to go to the library.  Many students agree that while rallies are a nice break from class, they would like to have the option to spend the time studying or relaxing instead.

Pashai recommends that some teachers should keep their classrooms open during the rallies for students who prefer not to go.  Other alternatives could be to hold rallies at lunch or after school.

The main opposition to the petition comes from the leadership class, which puts huge amounts of time and effort into rallies.

“People just need to try a little harder to get excited about rallies.  There’s something in them for everyone,” said junior Cameron Parsons, a member of the leadership class.

However, there are some leadership students, like senior Kaylie Williams, who think that making rallies optional is a good idea.

“It would be better because the people who went would actually have school spirit and want to be there, so it wouldn’t be so hard for leadership to get them excited,” Williams said.

Pashai has made it clear that he definitely thinks school spirit is important.  His aim is not to eradicate Mustang Pride; he just wants to make sure that it is not forced.

“Hopefully this will help our school become a little more open,” Pashai said.