Could School Spirit Help With Student Testing?

Story by Serenity Bussey. Photo courtesy of @fpcs_woodridge on Instagram.

There’s this thing my school has done for years whenever we have something big like the PARCC assessment coming up. That thing is the pep rally. I personally think pep rallies are a great way to lighten students' spirits before important upcoming events. Pep rallies can also help take stress off students by letting them take their minds off tests for a bit.

I’m not the only one who thinks this. Studies show that pep rallies help encourage students to feel more ready to take the test. And even if students aren’t super ecstatic to take the test, the rallies still made them want to try their best. This means that pep rallies play a big role in students' motivation and effort when it comes to testing. I think this is important for schools who don’t do pep rallies because they should try them out and see the results.

For me personally, pep rallies are helpful. They help me take my mind off of the stress that might come from testing and also allows me to have fun for a good cause. It’s pretty fun to see different students from all grade levels come together in order to complete challenges. This year my favorite pep rally challenges were the Teacher vs Student basketball game, tug of war, and the song performed by our students to hype students up for PARCC. All in all, I believe that pep rallies are a great way to improve student spirit about things they may be either nervous or stressed about. And pep rallies are something every school should do.

Serenity Bussey is a 7th grade scholar at Friendship Woodridge International School.