When you picture pep assemblies, you might imagine watching routines performed by cheer and dance or linking arms to sing the “Alma Mater” together, but the members of the Olathe West Leadership Squad (O.W.L.S.) would probably picture arranging them.
These pep assemblies may only span less than two hours, but the O.W.L.S start prepping for these events about two weeks before. This time allows them to pick the contestants for games and work to ensure the assembly goes smoothly.
“We have to plan games, make announcements, and make sure [the] songs and production go over well,” senior Molly Collins said. “It’s a lot of stuff that we have to put into it.”
Some weeks, the members of O.W.L.S. have limited time to prepare for the upcoming assemblies. At the start of this year, for instance, they only had two meetings over the course of one week to get ready for our two back-to-school assemblies.
“We just needed to focus more on what we were doing, and we needed to be dialed in to everything,” senior Molly Collins said, “No, like messing around.”
The time spent producing these events is not without value. Pep assemblies can serve many purposes, from displaying school pride to announcing homecoming royalty.
“It’s definitely to make sure to get our community together and know that we’re just all together during this and [to] make it a fun time for everybody,” senior Averee Henshaw said.
Pep assemblies are a major part of what the O.W.L.S. do, but their class time consists of more than just that.
“[Planning assemblies] is not like an everyday thing,” Zimmerman said. “We still have our book studies that we will do.”
Their studies through various books can assist the O.W.L.S in developing their leadership skills and the connections within the club. Having good leadership qualities and bonds helps the O.W.L.S. try to boost spirit during pep assemblies and work on becoming role models in the school.
“We take a lot of time to not only make our community stronger, but our classroom, we do a lot of team bonding together,” Henshaw said. “We make sure that we’re strong so we can make our community strong as well.”
