During this past year, many changes have happened to our world, and people have to constantly adapt in order to adjust to them. This is no exception to school events, as, through months of coordinating how this could be done, Yorba Linda High School got its own virtual rally in place of an in-person rally! Filled with tons of school spirit and outstanding performances, this rally was for sure one that will be remembered by Mustangs.

To start off, the rally’s hosts Jaly Pietsch (12) and Sahil Chekuri (11) introduced this rally, followed by the traditional singing of the national anthem done by Alyssa Thomas (12). Her powerful voice brought on the glory of our country, and each part of the song was sung with such passion. After this, Dance Company took the spotlight with their amazing performance choreographed by their captains Zaphera Fidelis (11), Stephanie Dy (11), and Emily Kraack (12). This hip-hop-style routine brought in a lot of energy for the rally, as the variety of songs and dance moves really showed how talented our team is at Yorba Linda High School. Unique from any other dance performance at rallies, this rally was done socially-distant, with each dancer filming themselves and combining their clips into one whole dance routine! It was so interesting to watch, and the product of their hard work was phenomenal.

After all of the energy given from this performance, some members of ASB then interviewed Mr. Lejano (S), Mr. Bailey (S), Mrs. Shube (S), and Dr. Dinh (S). All of them shared the story of their lives, setting the theme for the rally and foreshadowing the next part, a lip-sync video featuring various students from YLHS with the song “Story of My Life” by One Direction. Each person that participated lip-synced a line to this well-known song, and added to this were baby photos of some of our fellow Mustangs! How adorable it was to see this, and it definitely lightened the mood to this sentimental song that has us reminiscing of the days before the pandemic and all we have gone through during this past year. 

After these feelings of nostalgia is when the rally really started to get some action with our cheer and song team showing off some school spirit! Filled with red and blue flags and pompoms in the air, each member of these groups acted so professional as they mastered every move some could only imagine being capable of doing. The music felt as if it was an actual football game, and the girls’ game-faces showed the same thing. It was so amazing to see the talent our cheer and song groups have, and it really has people looking forward to seeing them in-person again once all of the chaos in the world has settled.

With so many different aspects of our rally shown, our long-awaited royalty was finally announced! For our freshmen royalty, we had Aubrey Esparza (9) and Mason Farley (9). Each had glowing smiles that brightened the room as they walked the red carpet. Our sophomore royalty was Megan Chou (10) and JJ Conrad (10). Megan’s dress and beauty as well as JJ’s friendly wave were noticed by everyone. Noah Hawkins (11) and Tyler Armstrong (11) were part of our junior royalty. Noah’s dancing skills really showed off his personality, while the audience hearing about Tyler’s goals for the future was interesting for everyone to hear. Last on our royalty were the seniors, which were Sydney Kim (12) and Brandon Vega (12). Sydney’s sparkling black dress along with the curls in her hair was a stunning sight to see, while Brandon was a familiar face to see again on the royalty court. 

Hearing from one of our sophomore royals, Megan Chou (10) says “As a royal, I really enjoyed getting to dress up for once and being in the gym because it brought back memories of the good old days. While waiting for my turn to walk the red carpet, I got the amazing opportunity to meet and become friends with some of the other royals. Being nominated and chosen to represent the sophomore class as a royal during COVID was a very unique and heart-warming experience that I will forever treasure.”

To finish off this eventful rally, our band and guard virtually performed in a style similar to Dance Company. This ensured the safety of everyone and for a successful rally! In the middle was the conductor, and in little video squares around them were the rest of the band and guard, certainly a different experience than anyone has seen before.

With all of this time and effort put into making this rally happen, Jillian Gray (12) explains the process, saying “the rally was talked about all year round as ASB had to get approval from the district, school, and admin. It took about two months to plan and during the last two weeks is when a lot of the filming and work took place.” Many people took an effort in making this rally possible, as video productions helped film and edit parts, and band and guard and dance company had videographers assist in this video. This leads to the most challenging part of organizing the rally, which Jillian Gray (12) says was “creating a unique experience considering how unique this year was and having to communicate with so many people and rely on them to help us finish this. For example, we had to talk to video productions and Ms. Runge to ensure everything was done safely, and also had to communicate with everyone else to make sure we were all on the same page, which unfortunately due to these challenging circumstances there were times we were not.” Though there were many challenges faced by ASB and everyone else that assisted in this rally, in the end, everyone can agree it was such an amazing rally and experience. Jillian Gray’s (12) favorite part of this rally was “the lip-sync video and interview with the staff members since they were such sweet moments to reflect on this year and to see how people have grown. It just makes my heart so happy and I am very proud of this rally!” 

Getting the perspective of some of the people that helped make this rally possible shows how much love is put into our school.  Many students can agree on how much time and effort was spent perfecting this, and it brought a little bit of normalcy during these uncertain times.