Annual Pep Assembly Opens E/a Weekend

Courtesy of Alex Lim

By SAM ALTMAN, ANGELA HE, JINMIN LEE, HANNA WEI, and JADE YOO

On Nov. 9, students rushed from their classes into the Academy Building, picking up their pace and showing enthusiasm rare for any regular assembly. Seniors filed into the front seats, stylishly wearing red kilts. Everyone wore Big Red sunglasses, bandanas, and even fire helmets, eager to get hyped before the annual fall Exeter/Andover weekend. Big Red Zone members and dancers took the stage, ready to raise everyone’s spirits.

Before every fall E/a, Exeter hosts a “Pep Assembly” to get students excited for Exeter-Andover games. The Big Red Zone taught chants for sports games intermittently as the Precision and Outkast, Academy Belly Dancing Society, and Beat of Asia dance groups performed on stage. In a final burst of excitement, Principal Bill Rawson took the stage with a broomstick, chanting, “SWEEP! SWEEP! SWEEP!”

The Red Bandits coordinated the assembly. Describing the preparation, senior Cassia Lee, a member of the Red Bandits, said, “We had a lot of meetings, and we constantly talked in our group chat because we had to find a lion mascot. I don’t know who’s in it, but it’s a great surprise. Get excited for the energy!”

“We picked people who were the most active in the crowd during sports games to join Big Red Zone,” explained senior Max Albinson, another Bed Bandits member. “I think it’s a good group to be on stage.” 

Students mentioned the excitement that the assembly brought. “Anna Holtz did a fantastic job—she really knows how to get everybody excited. It’s hard to do because there’s a lot of social insecurity at Exeter, but she did a wonderful job at getting everybody out of their shell. Also, I’d like to give a shoutout to Sunny, who did a fantastic job with Precision and Outkast,” upper Cecily Reed said.

Lower Alyssa Wang agreed, saying, “I think it’s the whole school coming together and being really excited about school spirit and participating that makes this assembly special. I think it brings us closer as a community and it also helps support our teams.”

“I thought the assembly was well done,” said lower Aslan Bilimer. “The Big Red Zone did a great job at getting the student body excited about E/a. They were able to foster school spirit in a time of stress for many. I think the upperclassmen have a greater sense of spirit because they have been here longer. But I believe the lowerclassmen will learn to be more spirited as they spend more time on campus.” 

Senior Jackson Lyle emphasized the importance of this “transition” assembly, to get everyone into the E/a spirit. “I think just that tone is something that you need to have before E/a and it’s a big shift going from the stress of school to having that school spirit where we can be really competitive in class, but we wanna be together for E/a. So I think the assembly is always a really good way to start that.”

Lower Maya Hinrichson echeod this sentiment, noting the need for assembly to keep the energy going despite long games. “I feel like people at E/a games are tired because you’ve been there for hours and it’s a very long day of trying to keep the hype your energy, so I think that having a pep assembly just helps everybody stay in that hype and get ready for the weekend.”

“I think that the seniors and the uppers did a good job because, by that point, you’ve pretty much lost your general fear of what other people think. The preps seemed excited, but it honestly comes down to the cheer contest that we won,” Reed continued.

Prep Betty Pai agreed and she is excited for her first E/a game: “I think that they [Big Red Zone] really did a good job on making the atmosphere environment hype and also brought a lot of team spirit overall. I think it’s good to have school spirit so we build a better community and help each other grow.”

Prep Owen Lee also enjoyed the sense of community fostered by the pep assembly: “This assembly is important because it brings the upperclassmen and lowerclassmen together and solidifies the community to defeat one main opponent, Andover.”

The E/a chants are a defining tradition that brings the school together. “As a prep, I learned the chants of E/a day for the first time. That’s the funniest and most satisfying part,” reflected prep Kevin Chen

Lower Crane Lee noted that his favorite chant was the new chant that Red Bandit member Charles Dobbins created, with the “woof” sounds. However, he also said that he wished that the crowd was “bolster[ed] up more, because it seemed like the Red Bandits group was just doing its own thing and we were just watching them.” 

Wang also thought that this assembly had less participation than last year, saying, “I honestly think we were less hype this year during assembly than last year. It was a bit better during the pep rally, but during the assembly I feel like people were a bit quiet.”

Lower Victor Angeline jokingly noted that the preps didn’t have as much energy this year, stating, “We should do chants and drills outside of the Academy Building every day to instill in them core values of camaraderie.”

“I thought the assembly could’ve used a bit more energy on the part of the student body, but I thought the [step] groups—Outkast and Precision—were very creative. Additionally, the chants didn’t always work on the students because, especially at the back, it was hard to hear all of the words articulated,” upper Edward Wu said. 

The Precision and Outkast performance featured a voice recording of Russell Weatherspoon, former beloved Dean of Students, which gave the step dancers instructions to dance to a secret code the Andover mascot used to hide the E/a scores. Students enjoyed the cameo. “It was really funny,” described C. Lee. “It felt nostalgic, and I was wondering about how Dean Weatherspoon was doing.”

“I thought it was a nice way of honoring Dean Weatherspoon,” added Reed. “It’s been nice to see him in multiple assemblies this year.”

Both O. Lee and Angeline agreed with this sentiment, that their favorite part of the assembly was the Precision and Outkast performance, complimenting the energy and choreography of the performance. 

Lower Julia Zhou explained that what was special about this group was not only the dances but also how they included more interactive elements and brought the crowd together. “I think there was more interaction with the crowd which made everyone excited. And the theme, hacking into this computer was very fun and unique.” 

“The sweep ending was great. It’s good to see Principal Rawson being included. The mascot was also fun and engaging—the person inside did a pretty good job keeping everyone excited,” Wu said.

Senior Charles Dobbins, a member of the Red Bandits, concluded, “If you want to enjoy Pep Assembly and EA Weekend, live in the moment!”