Better late than never!

ORR High School held its annual pep rally for the first time in two years on Friday, Nov. 5, one week after the event was delayed by a nor’easter that battered the region.

The event traditionally takes place in the high school auditorium, but was moved outside onto the football field this year because of covid restrictions. Despite the chilly weather, the move outside did come with some advantages, according to ORR High School Principal Mike Devoll.

“It was great to do it outside,” he said. “It actually increased our participation because the junior high was able to attend.”

As part of the pep rally, each grade level wrote, choreographed, rehearsed, and performed a skit based on a simple premise: Fairhaven steals ORR’s beloved mascot, the bulldog, and the students have to get him back.

Despite the unified plot arc, each grade was able to make the skit their own by choosing a theme to fit the story into.

The freshmen chose “Toy Story” and like the toys in the movie, their skit was anything but inanimate. The ninth-graders donned colorful costumes portraying fan favorites like Buzz Lightyear and Woody, and performed choreographed dances to relevant songs like “Barbie Girl.”

The sophomore class went aviary, basing its skit on the popular smartphone game, Angry Birds. The students mimed launching themselves from a giant slingshot, tumbling acrobatically towards the precarious cardboard castle where the evil green pigs (of Fairhaven) were hiding the bulldog. After smashing Fairhaven’s lair to bits, the OR Angry Birds were able to rescue him.

Next it was the turn of the junior class, which got a little ahead of itself with a collegiate theme, basing its skit on Pixar’s “Monsters University.” In the skit, two competing fraternities/sororities held a dance competition to prove which was the scariest, Fairhaven or ORR. In the end, ORR’s high-flying acrobatics and impeccable dance moves won over not just Mike and Sully, but most of the Fairhaven group as well.

Finally, the senior class took the field, rushing out in twin mobs adorned with Hawaiian shirts and greaser outfits for a teen beach movie showdown. Ultimately, the two opposing factions settle their differences and unite to take back the bulldog from Fairhaven’s mad scientists.

“This hasn’t happened for a year and a half, so [the seniors] were adamant they were going to do it right,” said Senior Class Advisor Kelly Ochoa. “They even picked their theme over the summer.”

Performers from all the classes met at the High School on Tuesday and Thursday nights for two weeks before the pep rally to practice their skits.