The Crackerjacks spirit team comprised of 6th graders screams at the news of receiving the spirit stick full of candy during the Ooltewah Middle School academic pep rally on Monday. Ooltewah has been using pep rallies normally used for athletic motivation to inspire its students academically.
John Shulman, coach of the UTC Mocs men’s basketball team, gives a motivational speech during the Ooltewah Middle School academic pep rally Monday.With music from the school band reverberating off the walls and bleachers, eighth-graders — clearly the stars of this show — marched into the packed Ooltewah Middle School gym.
It looked like any other pep rally, with cheerleaders performing stunts and some students inspired to stand and clap with the music. But Monday’s pep rally had nothing to do with sports and everything to do with academics.
Ooltewah Middle organized the event, now in its third year, to motivate eighth-grade students for their ACT Explore test, which they’ll take today. The exam predicts how well students will do on the ACT, and thus how prepared for college they’ll be.
“It’s definitely one of the truest measuring sticks that we have in regard to student success,” Principal Brent Eller said.
While the pep rally is admittedly a bit hokey, Eller said it has been effective in motivating students.