It is time to get fired up—and this time it is not just the cheerleaders, but now the rest of the school is encouraged to show their cougar pride. Recently the class officers, along with school administration and faculty, implemented new changes in regards to pep rallies.

To be allowed entrance into the homecoming pep rally, students were required to wear a maroon shirt. According to sophomore class president Courtney Reid, the reason behind the new requirement was mainly to get students more excited about the football game.

“In terms of the homecoming pep rally, it was split freshmen/sophomores and juniors/seniors so that it could be in the gym and the students could be closer to the action and more involved,” Reid said. “Also, by requiring students to wear maroon to get in amped up spirit not only at the pep rally, but also throughout the day and at the game.”

Senior class president Paige Hegedus also acknowledged new changes with pep rallies and the attempts from administration to make them more interesting and interactive. According to Hegedus, in the past students treated pep rallies as a way to simply sit around.

“Our pep rallies are much different from last year,” Hegedus said. “Mr. Cross really wanted to get the student body more involved. Like he said at our homecoming pep rally, it really is the student’s time to get together and show support for our school. The band will now play multiple songs to get the crowd pump, and the cheerleaders will pep up the crowd by leading cheers like ‘We are CR.’ It is no longer a sitting time rather a high energy spirit time.”

According to Reid, ‘marooning out’ brings the school community together as a whole and effectively raises the morale of the school on game days.

“When everyone is wearing maroon on game days, it brings together our community of students from every activity and many different backgrounds as one,” Reid said. “In terms of school spirit, the class officers from every grade level are attempting to increase attendance at every activity from spirit circle to basketball games to choir concerts.”

Having school spirit is not only limited to dressing for spirit days or going to pep rallies. It involves the student population itself to also support the different activities students do after school.

“I believe school spirit creates school unity,” Hegedus said. “Cinco has such incredible talents in athletics, fine arts, and academics. We cougars choose to excel in everything we do, and showing support for each other will only make our school more unified.”

The variety of different activities taking place after school also require support from the student population. One such student led organization is the Cinco Gentlemen. According to their Facebook page their main mission is to “change the face of Cinco athletics and make our mark as good sportsmen and characters.”

“In addition to the football games, which are very fun, there are so many groups at our school that are performing at an almost professional level,” Reid said. “From cheering with the Cinco Gentlemen at volleyball games to going to ‘The Magic of Musicals,’ I have really found a whole other side to our school. There are so many events weekly, and with all the technology students have, they should be checking the website to see when the next band concert is, or what theatre performance is coming up.”

With the Katy vs. Cinco game coming around the corner, the class officers of each grade along with the school administration and faculty are working together to increase the spirit level.

More activities involving interacting with the student population are to be expected in the coming weeks. Other activities include the upcoming wildfire fundraiser to support the victims of the recent wildfires that had been happening around Houston and the surrounding areas. In the upcoming Katy vs. Cinco football game, a bucket will be passed around for people to donate money.

“I believe school spirit creates unity,” Hegedus said. “Cinco has such incredible talent in athletics, fine arts, and academics. We cougars choose to excel in everything we do, and showing support for each other will only make our school more unified.”