On the morning of Oct. 21, Channel 8 DayBreak came to Aledo High School to show a preview of the game tonight against Denton Ryan High School. 

The students of NHS, varsity cheerleaders, varsity dance team, Aledo Excite and Spirit of Aledo all woke up and got to the school at 4:30 a.m. to participate.

“I was honestly pleasantly surprised when I woke up at 4 a.m. because it was pretty easy and I expected it to be more difficult than it was,” senior Alex Davis said. 

Cameras started rolling around 5 a.m.

Mrs. Tims and the varsity head captains, Ruthie Pulliam and Taylor Parsons, were interviewed by the anchor, Marc Istook. Along with this, the varsity cheerleaders, Aledo Excite and the Bearcat dance team performed. 

The Aledo Excite inclusive cheer team is a team with high schoolers and middle schoolers that allows anyone that wants to join to be able to. They chanted with all of the groups present. 

The Bearcats Dance Team was the first individual performance given during the pep rally. They did a dance to the song “Levitating” by Dua Lipa. 

The varsity cheerleaders performed the Aledo fight song towards the end of the show. They used megaphones and signs to give the small crowd of parents and the viewing audience a feel as if the pep rally was during school hours.

“I thought it was very impressive that all of the groups could wake up that early and still perform at the level that they did,” senior Alex Davis said. 

Earlier during the pep rally, Istook took the spirit stick from the Spirit of Aledo team and found out about the two rules with the spirit stick. The first rule is that people are not allowed to let the spirit stick touch the floor or it is bad luck. The second rule is the team can’t just let anyone hold the spirit stick, only seniors on Spirit of Aledo can carry it. 

Students that are a part of NHS also showed up to this pep rally while it was optional for them. These students could gain two NHS hours for being at the pep rally along with getting food after the pep rally was over. 

“Apart from gaining NHS hours for showing up to this pep rally this early, the donuts are really what won me over,” senior Michael Brown said. 

This pep rally was a unique experience compared to all other pep rallies that Aledo High School is used to. 

“Being on the news and having to be up so early was not something students, including me, were used to,” junior Sadie Giddens, NHS member, said. “It was a fun thing we got to do and I’m glad I got to experience it.”