December through February happen to be the coldest times of the year. Sports such as basketball come into play for the season. Whether it be bringing new energy into the stands or posters to boost up the players for an exciting game. Students pay $3 to enter the gym and support the players with dress up themes and chants. 

“We all collectively are there to support the players while having fun with the opposing teams student section,” junior Katelyn Piechowski said.                                                                                                                                                          

With each new game, the dress up theme changes. A fan favorite being the white lie t-shirts because it was a fun and easy theme according to junior Bianca Thom. While the student section increases school spirit by dressing up, they bring even more energy with chants.

“Go Bananas, Roller Coaster and Nuts and Bolts are some of the student section’s favorite chants to do during the games. Peter Fritz is usually the one to lead these chants,” Thom said. 

During the first half of the games, the pep band is usually there to bring up the players’ spirit. Due to COVID, Band director Ben Ruetten, had felt there were some safety issues, leaving the band to not have any performances this year yet. 

“The honors students and Mr. Ruetten discussed how the rate of COVID cases have gone up significantly and decided for the safety of the students that we would not participate in playing for the band until we have more students back,” Piechowski said. “To prepare for this, Mr. Ruetten handed out music to prepare for our first planned game on Jan. 18. We plan to learn some new pieces as well as pieces from previous years.”

The band plays upbeat music that the majority of people know. Some favorites are: “25 or 6 to 4,” “Funkytown,” and “Go Northwestern Go.”

“My favorite part of pep band is getting off of work and being involved with school spirit in a different way,” Piechowski said.