Recently, Dos Pueblos has been hosting pep rallies in the middle of the school day. These pep rallies, held in the gym, have drawn a lot of controversy from students.

In particular, there has been an abundance of discussion around the mandatory attendance of the pep rallies. Many students have questioned the reasoning behind making the rally mandatory.

Overall, students were happy with the rally experience itself.

“It was very fun,” freshman Sam Gerardi said, “and I think it was very interesting to watch, and I also think it showed a lot of school spirit.”

However, students felt like it came at the cost of work time.

“We were forced to miss part of class that can be really useful and then forced to work the next day, like more than we need to, in the previous day,” senior Kashaf Iftikhar said. “Students should have the option to do whatever they need to do during that time.”

Students also noted the increased claustrophobia and crowding in the gym. Students, thus, appreciated using the EPAC, where they were able to watch a live stream of the pep rally. The EPAC provided a greater level of space and quiet compared to the gym.

“I think the EPAC is a really good option. It was really necessary because the pep rally can get really claustrophobic,” Kashaf said.

School administrators are looking for ways to improve. The school administration is looking for student opinions and voices to help address their concerns.

“What I would like is more feedback,” said Scott Guttentag, the DP activities director. “I am absolutely open to coming up with another alternative.”

However, this doesn’t mean that students will be able to leave school or have an extended lunch in its place.

“We can’t excuse students to leave campus during the pep rally, because it’s considered educational time. It’s not free time. It has to be supervised in some way,” Scotty said.

Overall, the priority is to receive student feedback if there are solutions students want. The system is new, and the school is working to optimize it for as many students as possible.

“I just need feedback on what students think should be alternative options to going to the pep rally,” Scotty said. “It’s been almost 20 years since we did all-school pep rallies, [it’s] the second one we’ve done. So it’s a new trial as opposed to having them at lunch.”