By: Krissy Hetherington and Abby Miller
To kick things off, Redwood’s ASB hosted the annual “Ice Breaker” Assembly to hype up the school dance Friday night as well as welcome the freshmen on the second day of school, August 16th.
MC’s, Katie Sullivan, ’20, Aaron Garcia, ’20, and Solomon Stahl, ’20, began the rally with a literal “ice breaker” smashing the slabs of ice using a sledgehammer. Garcia shared, “It was super exhilarating to break the ice, I felt like it broke the tension in the gym and really got everyone hyped…I just love how much energy and spirit our school has.” Sullivan enjoyed MCing with her best friends and her favorite part was leading the spell out. On behalf of this being her last Ice Breaker Rally, she called it bittersweet, “High school has been so much fun and I will never forget all the memories I have made but I am super excited to adventure out into the world.” Stahl was most excited about being able to MC his little brother’s first high school rally, “I’m really glad Christine chose me to do something like this because it was so much fun.”
Following, Chamber Choir performed their first National Anthem together as a brand new group of kids. First year Chamber Choir member, Shelby Wisehart, ’22, was excited to be a part of this group, “I was definitely nervous but it was so fun…it was my first timed singing the melody of the national anthem but it was fun to learn a different part.” She goes on to share that the whole choir had only practiced during prefirst on the first and second day of school then went out and performed. Tessa Hemphill, ’22, also first year, added, “It was super nerve wracking but I was really excited, all summer I was looking forward to being in Chamber, so it was great to perform so soon…[learning it in two days] was a little stressful but it definitely showed how hard we will work the rest of the year!”
ASB led the first Ranger spell-out as a new collective student body cheered it out then transitioned into a Stranger Things theme video. In the video, after all new Student Council positions were presented, in bold letters, “Believe in the Possibilities” was spelled out. This is ASB’s new theme for the 2019-2020 school year and was an idea generated by ASB President, Jada Griffiths, ’20. What she said started as a simple dream she had beginning of summer, turned into a motto she’s excited to carry out, “The first step to accomplishing anything is by believing that you can. I want every student to believe in the possibilities for themselves individually and as an entire school collectively…both socially and academically.” For the future, she plans to keep this idea strong throughout her presidency, she said, “As an ASB class we all have the vision that each and every student can be apart of something bigger than themselves. Since Redwood has endless possibility for all, it is our goal to encourage and support every student to believe in these possibilities.
Next, Varsity Cheer and Dance Force performed their first dances of the 2019-2020 year proving all their hard work over summer. Mya Ables, ’20, 4 year cheer and first time on Dance Force, was a standout double switching between both acts, “It was pretty stressful, I didn’t think I was going to make the quick change in time because the routines were back to back. I made it and I was excited to be a part of both performances.” As far as handling both groups and practices and routines, she added, “To me dance and cheer are two different styles. So with cheer it’s more sharp and the team has to stay together as one, meaning it has to be more formal or it looks off. But with dance its easier to add more of your own style but still look together as one.” She shares that both teams and coaches have been very helpful and flexible with her schedules and she’s very grateful and excited for it especally being her senior year.
Four year Dance Force member, Chloe Sanchez, ’20, shared her feelings on the very first of many lasts this year, “It almost felt too good to be true, even last year I had this idea in my head that I was never going to get out of high school and the classes above were never going to graduate, but then they did and my class is next and I don’t think my brain has fully grasped the concept that next year, I won’t be coming back to Redwood.”
Following these talented performances was a “new teachers vs. old teachers” game of tug of war and well let’s just say the “more experienced” won by a landslide. Ending the assembly, was an upper vs. lower classes game led by ASB President, Jada Griffiths, ’20, and Vice President, Josh Gilcrest, ’20. Then to finish off the whole rally, the Varsity football team led the school into the Alma Mater.
Being her first rally of the year, ASB Rally Commissioner, Christine Santos, ’20, was stressed but overall satisfied with the outcome of the Icebreaker Rally, “We had a lot of time over summer luckily to prepare and get ready, it was my first time working with Freestyle (lighting) and the teachers activities were hard to get all of them there when they weren’t busy.” With many small inconveniences leading up to the rally such as lots of paperwork and practices in the gym during setup, the rally was a success and involved many fun games for the whole student body! They’re only going to get better from here including upcoming Homecoming and Cowhide rallies so make sure to show support and TRUE Ranger Spirit!
Krissy Hetherington
Krissy ('21) is a senior and this is her third year as Editor in Chief. She has been in Journalism since beginning of freshman year and has a strong passion for sports journalism. Outside of the Gigantea, Krissy is a part of the Cross Country, Basketball and Track teams. She is also in her third year as an intern writer for the Sun-Gazette. You can reach her by email at krist.he0076@vusd.us
