Our most recent rally gave us the opportunity to take a deeper dive into the process of how planning really works. From weeks to months of rigorous preparation, our USB members work their hardest to create the most enjoyable school-wide event possible 5 times a year. 

Rallies are ginormous, and they cannot be tackled one detail at a time. Members are split into groups to handle their given jobs and make sure multiple things are happening at once. 

“We divide it into people painting our backdrop, painting publicity posters, organizing seating and invites, recognizing performing arts, recognizing the specific sports or academics of the rally, and rally games,” said junior and USB leader Jude Hiljeh. “We also have people working on the script and our cardboard pop-outs, and people in charge of the video publicity for our rally.”

A month might seem like plenty of time to plan one event, but with all things considered, it can often not be enough. “Even on the night of the rally you might find USB students painting at 7 or 8pm at night and working to finalize all plans for the rally to run as smoothly as possible,” said Hiljeh. She adds, however, that all of the work ends up being enough to be prepared for rally day.

There’s more structure to a rally than a monthly due date. Deadlines are set, groups get reassigned, and the flow continues. “We try to have the decor, games, script, invitations, seating, treats, etc. all ready to go prior to the week of the rally,” said USB Director Alexis Sjol. “There are many things that cannot be done until the day of the rally, so we try to make sure that everything else is done with plenty of time.”

During these changing times, COVID-19 issues have become present during rally preparation. This leads to certain restrictions and even drastic changes that may have to be made for safety reasons.

“Another hardship we faced is the threat of the rally possibly being canceled due to the increasing number of students receiving COVID in the weeks before the rally,” said Hiljeh, “However, as we approached the rally, the number of COVID cases decreased and luckily we were able to hold the rally.”

Mrs. Sjol said, “With COVID, the guidelines change frequently, so it can make it difficult to try and plan a shared experience for all students.”

Our USB, despite challenges and hardships, never fails to build on their previous experiences to create even better rallies each time.

“This rally we decided to add new decorations such as photo backdrops during the week, balloon arch, and rented props,” said Hiljeh. The additional work created minor setbacks in planning but they were able to figure it out. 

Props are only one part of a rally, with the people being the other. Student, staff, and team recognitions take their own time for planning and coordinating. 

“To find out student and staff recognition our commissioners contact coaches, staff, and faculty,” said junior and USB commissioner Ady Rocha. “Those commissioners then get a list of everyone being recognized and send out invitations to those students. We also have specific rally groups for recognizing students.” 

Even before the end of a rally, USB is already thinking of new ideas to make their next rally a step up from their last. Mrs. Sjol said, “After a rally, we spend some time debriefing and setting goals for the next rally and spirit week. For the next rally, we would really like to plan an event where all students feel engaged and connected.”