There is truly nothing more inconvenient for a student’s daily routine than being guided into a half-empty gymnasium at the crack of dawn, all for a pep assembly nobody asked for. There’s a certain sleepy hostility that hangs in the air that no amount of school pride can seem to shake.
The real cause behind this has nothing to do with ASB planning, but instead has everything to do with the placement of these events, as well as the factor of mandatory attendance.
One major factor that contributes to lower attendance and participation rates is the time of day the assemblies take place, which unfortunately is SAS. While it’s completely understandable that teachers and administrators want to avoid cutting into class time, SAS is one of the few times students can step away from classes and focus on their own needs, whether that be studying, completing classwork, or even just taking a break.
Students would most likely engage with pep assemblies if they felt it was a genuine break from school, rather than something that takes away from their own individual break time.
A possible solution for this could be shaving off 15 minutes of each period during the day of the assembly, and setting those extra 45 minutes aside for a more engaging assembly at the end of the day.
While I understand the initial staff reaction to this proposal would be mainly negative, it’s important to consider these assemblies happen very rarely throughout the year.
Along with this, the original purpose of pep assemblies is to build a sense of community within students and encourage school spirit, which is something that can be just as valuable to students as time spent in a classroom.
Another way we could promote attendance and get people excited is through mere exposure within the halls. With more of a heads-up about the event, students would have a chance to discuss and get excited, rather than being told about it five minutes before it starts.
This marketing could happen in so many ways, whether it be posters, frequent announcements, or even adding some decoration to The Cove prior to the assembly!
Overall, it’s important that we honor the performance teams and the ASB staff with our attendance and attention at these events, as they put in so much work to provide and plan these assemblies for us. Therefore, it’s only fair to these students that the school aims to encourage and incentivize attendance as much as possible.
