We'd like to start off by giving everyone a huge THANK YOU for helping out on the rally on Friday. Whether you were part of the chair/desk crew, gave us advice or your opinions, or were one of the people who asked if there was anything you could do to help, we appreciate every single one of you for making last Friday a success. :)
Now you know the drill, please write some feedback regarding the rally in the comments below! Here's a list of things you could discuss just to get your gears turning:
- The non-competitive aspect?
- The games
- difficulty?
- sports teams instead of classes?
- Video/ costumes / script?
- overall spirit of the rally
- any awkward pauses?
- what did you like about the rally
- what did you not like
- what would you change for next time
With lots of love,
ASB Spirit <3
Hi!!
ReplyDeleteI thought the overall video/script/costumes were hilarious!! a lot of people loved it and thought it was awesome. The downside of the rally? the non-competitive part. People who are usually are rally setups weren't there because they didn't think it was important enough since there was no competition. They didn't want to "show the other classes how it's done" and although there were nice decs, I believe they weren't as awesome as they could have been.
The spaghetti game took a little longer than people thought and the fact that only the sports teams were participating made it awkward to figure out who should the classes be cheering on. It's nice that the sports teams got a little bit of recognition but next time I would definitely change it to class competition.
Overall: great script and acting but low on enthusiasm from the crowd from it being noncompetitive.
As far as the rally being non-competitive, I didn't have any opinion on that, I figured that it wouldn't be any better or worse than a competitive rally. However, most of the Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors have very strong opinions against this, and they feel that "a non-competitive rally is lame" because it defeats the purpose, and they don't find it fair because they recall being hurt as freshmen when their classes came in last place.
ReplyDeleteI do like that a non-competitive rally brings us all together as a school, however, I do understand where those ^ students are coming from when they say that they do not enjoy having a non-competitive rally.
I really like having the designated people from sports teams participate in games, rather than classes because it is more organized. However, when we go back to having competitive rallies, I think it would be cool to have a designated grade of a sports team to participate in the games, counting it towards that class' points. (For example: freshmen from water polo, sophomores from cross country, juniors from volleyball, seniors from field hockey; something like that)
The overall spirit of the rally was really good, and I really liked the video. It was very funny and attracted a lot of attention from the 4 classes.
I had mixed feelings about this rally and its non-competitive nature. Speaking on the competition side alone, I do like competitive rallies more than the non-competitive ones. People that came to rally set up (granted, for us it was only about 3-4) wondered what the point was, and people were confused that no rankings were announced after they had cheered so hard, because it seemed competitive during the rally, when we each tried to out-scream each other. I think having a competitive rally in the beginning of school just pumps everyone up, while the non-competitive nature sort of plateaued. Even with competition, we can still encourage/promote upperclassmen to help the underclassmen! Below are more pros and cons.
ReplyDeletePros:
-Games! I liked how you did a demo to explain to the crowd
-Upperclassmen helped out underclassmen more
Cons:
-As always, it was a bit hard to hear the rally commissioners do their thing
-To contradict myself in the bullet above, the games were a bit slow and I sometimes found myself becoming disinterested (when people were stacking their Fanta cans)
To be honest, I really didn't like the non-competitive aspect, and there seems to be a near unanimous preference among seniors that competitive rallies are more fun that non-competitive ones. There were a decent amount of people at rally setup, but no one was very motivated - if something turned out kind of ugly, we'd just shrug it off and use the "this rally is non-competitive" excuse instead of fixing the problem. I don't think the non-competitiveness fostered any school unity, whereas competitive rallies at least unify the class.
ReplyDeleteThe games were pretty good, but having the sports teams compete instead of the classes made cheering super awkward. We didn't know what to cheer for, so we just started chanting "LHS." I think having the athletes compete is fine, but it should still be split along class lines.
I think the skit was very good, except that sometimes I couldn't hear what Spirit was saying. The people around me seemed to understand what was going on very clearly, so good job Spirit! The video was super funny and the costumes were awesome.
Overall, I think the spirit of the rally was pretty lackluster. Sitting down was a total buzzkill. It was harder to get pumped for the rally because it was noncompetitive.
I feel like the biggest issue regarding the rally was it being noncompetitive. I like the idea of equality and not having a winner, but in the past, competitiveness is what fueled class participation and effort during rallies. To the classes, having no winner "defeats the purpose of the rally." As a result of this, there was not much participation during rally setup, and those who were there had to work harder and stay much later than they normally would.
ReplyDeleteThe games were clever, but the classes still aren't used to having sports teams doing games. It might need to be made clearer that those on sports teams are the ones participating, or go back to having volunteers from each class.
The skit and video were great, but I could tell that my class wasn't really sure what was going on at the end of the skit. The plot was pretty clear until the end when all the classes went crazy and it became hard to hear the actors.
Likes: game demos and nice script
Dislikes: noncompetitive theme affected spirit of the rally
I feel much of the main themes have been covered thus far. My personal summary follows.
ReplyDeletePros:
Skit, Games, Everything ran decently smoothly (at least from where I was)
Cons:
Non-Competitive. Games (choosing players. go with beatrice's idea?).
Mic Levels.
Mic Levels are always a constant issue with rallies and cannot be improved on the tech side. There is absolutely no way to increase the volume. The only way we can improve it is to quiet down classes which is the opposite of what should happen in Rallies. Leave it as an issue that will be never fixed.
Non-competitive meant that people worked less to prepare for the rally, but effort was still put into decorations. I personally think that this was the best possible scenario for a non-competitive rally. I think it was great that we did it once, saw how poorly it went, and keep that in mind and avoid doing non-competitive rallies from now on.
Summary:
Great Job to Spirit for a great welcome back rally. I can forsee great things in the future :)
Theme:
ReplyDelete-not a very good theme in terms of coming up with decs. The lack of an umbrella theme and inclusion of so many sub themes made decs very disjointed. Also, there was nothing to prevent classes from overlapping decoration wise.
Sports teams:
-many sports players felt cheated by the lack of recognition. Also, it was difficult to tell who to cheer for during the games.
Competition:
-the noncompetitive idea makes sense I guess, but not so much in practice. It definitely hurt the most during setup because I heard, "oh it's fine, it's noncompetitive anyway" and "who cares? It's noncompetitive" a lot. Given that 2015 had quite a few internal problems as well, I think our side of the bleachers is a good indication of what labeling a rally as "noncompetitive" does.
During the rally itself, people didn't seem to have a problem yelling and being seen, and attendance seemed fine as well. No problems there.
An analogy I think fits pretty well is that this rally was like a "completion assignment" rather than a "graded assignment." At a school like Lynbrook, where grades are everything, many people put in the minimum amount of effort because there is no "grade" (or place in this case) value attached to it.
I know I've only said negative things so far, but I think tech and the rally commissioners did a really good job.
I'll try to be brief, since most everything has been said:
ReplyDeletePros:
-script
-execution- everything ran smoothly, with no major issues
-video
-presence: spirit always needs to work really well together, and you guys performed wonderfully
Things to improve:
-theme was kinda awkward. When looking for umbrella themes, try for something more universal and well defined, like under the sea
-games. I didn't really get what was going on and it was hard to understand who to cheer for
-noncompetition. I agree 100% with what Eric said about completion vs. graded. We need competition to motivate us.
-teacher support. Teachers have to support ASB. It looks horrible when they're talking about it in class and everyone blames us
Aside from all this, I had a TON of fun (although let's be real, when are rallies not fun?)! GJ spirit and tech!
Pros:
ReplyDelete-Non-competitive
I actually liked the non-competitive aspect to the rally because it removes a stress factor from the rally. I believe the rally is a time for people to cheer and have fun, not to be stressed out about winning or be sad and angry when we lose to another class.
-Video
The video was really funny and entertaining. Not too short and not too long. I really appreciate the fact that it played on both screens so that everyone could watch it.
Things to improve:
-Games
If we want to have some form of class competition, I believe it should really go in the games. It was pretty confusing on who to cheer on because sometimes we didn't even know who was playing the game since they weren't from our class. WE NEEDED MORE BALLOONS.
-Sports
In my opinion, I liked how sports were recognized last year during the rallies. I believe the teams deserve a chance to be in the spotlight during the rally.
But anyways, I had so much fun at this rally. Awesome job guys!
Pros:
ReplyDelete- Opening video was both entertaining and clear, having it play on both screens was fantastic.
- Non-Competitiveness: (this is just my personal opinion, does not represent what others said on the subject) I like having an opening non-competitive rally. Not only does it make it easier for the freshmen to ease into the crazy competitive world of Lynbrook, but it also allows the first rally to be a less (barely less) stressful for everyone. At least for our class, I feel like the people who wanted to help out for rally set up would show up regardless; similarly, the people who don't want to help out wouldn't change their mind depending on whether the rallies are competitive or not. Plus, the people who really have class spirit will go all out and have energy during the rally REGARDLESS of how good the decs are... so even if the decs end up a little worse, I think the goals of school spirit/unity are still accomplished.
Cons:
- Theme: The theme made for a few interesting decs, but overall I agree with what everyone else has said about the theme.
- I found the skit pretty confusing in the second half, and several people I talked to agreed.
- I think the games could be more clear. Honestly, people just want to get hyped and cheer for their class during the games, so maybe simple games are best.
Pros:
ReplyDelete-Video and skit!! Spirit and Tech rocked it, it seemed like the entire gym loved it.
-Personally, I'm half and half on the non-competitiveness of the rally. I liked how for once, cheering for "LHS" was a lot more apparent than for individual classes. However, classes still tried to out-scream each other (still riding on the competitive spirit) and when I showed up to our class's rally setup, it was the lowest attendance I'd ever seen.
-I loved how there was a demo for the games, it let everyone know what was going to happen
Cons:
-Sports recognition: my entire team was super sad when they heard we weren't going to get to go up in the middle of the gym during the rally. From experience (at least in my sport), we always love being in the spotlight as a team with everyone cheering us on: it gives the freshmen on varsity a chance to "do something" in the rally, whereas some of my teammates were hesitant to represent the team because they didn't want to partake in the game.
Overall:
A rally's still a rally, and I had a blast cheering my heart out that morning!! Thanks so much Spirit and Tech!
Noncompetitive:
ReplyDeletePros: This rally was really good for the freshmen because they didn't feel bad about themselves for not having "the best" decorations or spirit. Instead they were hopefully encouraged for future rallies. I also think that sports teams enjoyed the games because they got to compete against other sports.
Cons: This has been previously mentioned but I thought that a lot of classes lacked motivation in terms of decorations and overall spirit during the rally. It also seemed slightly awkward because people didn't know who to cheer for during the games.
I actually do think that it would be possible to keep the first rally noncompetitive, but there needs to be a single unified purpose for the rally so people know why they are cheering. I overheard some freshmen saying that they wouldn't be going to the next rally because it was boring and "didn't have any point". Basically there needed to be an overarching purpose for the rally (class competition is a purpose).
Sports team recognition:
Pros: Sports teams got to play in games.
Cons: Only some players got to come down to the floor and the whole school didn't get to acknowledge the varsity teams as done in the previous rallies. Some of the teams felt slightly let down that they didn't get to do their huddle/cheer during the rally. Some sports had only their seniors participate in the games which didn't feel right because other classes couldn't cheer for them.
Theme: The theme was slightly awkward because people didn't know what to wear or use for decorations. I also found it a little bit confusing after "superheros" were discouraged. The theme should have been a little bit broader and easier for decorations as well as dressing up.
Overall: The skit was really well thought out and executed and most people seemed pumped about the first rally! Great job tech and spirit commissioners!
Pros: -Video was great! Loved the costumes.
ReplyDelete-Spirit of the rally was fantastic.
-I personally agreed with what Will said today in class, about how the first rally shouldn't be about who can win, it should be about the freshman and making their first rally an experience they'll remember. Non-competitive is a way to accomplish that.
-Good ideas of games
Cons:
-The skit was a little confusing mainly because spirit didn't wait for people to stop cheering to talk
-The classes still had verbal competition (who had the best chants/ chanted the loudest)
-The games have to be competitive between the classes. Everyone I talked to said that was one of the most upsetting things was not cheering for our own class.
-The theme was hard to think of decorations for
Overall:
I could definitely see the amount of effort and work put into the rally by spirit and tech, and I really appreciate that. I hope in the future there are better results!
PROS:
ReplyDelete-I liked the idea of the FIRST rally being non-competitive since it helps welcome the freshmen like Will said.
-The skit was awesome and compared to most other rallies we could actually hear you guys haha :)
- The games were fun!
Cons:
- to echo justin, the theme I think was a bit TOO broad and was hard to make decs for that all went together well
-The demonstration of the game wasn't really necessary in my opinion and it just took up extra time. I think for the most part people get the hang of whats happening soon enough
Overall a GREAT first rally!! FAB job spirit :D
Noncompetitive
ReplyDeletePros: I think that the freshmen definitely benefited from the noncompetitive aspect of the rally because they got help and they were also able to learn a lot about how rallies work.
Cons: I feel like the noncompetitive aspect of the rally affected setup quite a bit. Not many people felt motivated so they did not come to help out. One excuse I heard was "It's noncompetitive so why should we care?" In addition, people were still cheering for their class at the rally so the point of school unity was not really emphasized and it turned out to be the opposite of what noncompetitive rallies are supposed to be like.
Sports Team Involvement
Pros: They were still involved in the rally since they had the chance to participate in the games.
Cons: Like Riya said, many people were upset that there was no way to recognize the entire varsity team. The sports huddle and cheer are really fun for the sports teams and by taking that out, we took away part of their fun too. In addition, sending up sport teams to compete left many people questioning on who to cheer for? Some of the teams were composed of kids from various classes so classes were confused whether to cheer for the sport or for their class.
Games and Script
Pros: Very well thought out and executed. Everything flowed together and people seemed to enjoy the video and the skit.
Cons: The second game (balloon-popping) was not really explained so the team that won actually ended up doing the game wrong because they did not understand the instructions.
Theme:
I definitely think that the theme was not clear enough. Separating classes into different themes is what really makes it easy for classes to make decs so it was confusing this time around.
Overall: Great job to spirit and tech! The skit and games were fun and entertaining so people definitely had a great time. Congratulations :)
Most of what I wanted to pass on has already been said.
ReplyDeleteQuick notes/suggestions.
For the instagram challenge, you guys should try to work the announcement of the winners in to the very beginning of the script(around when the video is played) that way, you can use the screens to also show the pictures that won and why. It'd also be helpful to explain why these people won(where the pictures being judged based off of likes? Creativity? etc)
Here's a question to consider for future rallies. Why is it that the instagram winners get a whole box of pizza while the Mr.Mrs.Viking get a pair of sunglasses? I'm not saying one is unequivocally better than the other, but other people have their opinions. Next time, I'd suggest giving Mr./Mrs.Viking a box of pizza and sunglasses, because in general I think they've contributed more to the rally than the people who post pictures on instagram :)
When I spoke up in class I got very flustered and I don't think I got my point across very well.
The general idea is that I think 2018 had a great first rally.
I'd keep it non-competitive - to the point that no final results are announced, but work in some competitive aspects to appease the nay-sayers.
Perhaps for the games we could revert back to classes participating, but instead have four games, with each class teaming up with every other class within the course of the whole rally.
Or maybe there could be a portion where the advisers compete against each other? That way we include Lynbrook staff(gaining support from our faculty!) and people who will likely take win/loss very light-heartedly.
I think the non-competitive first rally entirely removes the risk of freshmen starting off terrible, as classes have before, and they still retain the chance to prove themselves. Positive positive!
Having only been in Saif's position one year ago, I realize now that upperclassmen and their attitudes really do make a huge difference.
Class (2016):
ReplyDeleteThe attitude towards the non-competitiveness of the rally was pretty nonchalant. Perhaps it's because people were shielding their opinions from me or they were too busy with tests/homework, but Juniors didn't really care that it wasn't competitive. The only comments I really heard from anyone was about how setup went, and they were generally positive, hooray!
Rally Critique in general:
-Cheering for games was a little awkward because we didn't know what to cheer for (PoloGolf!!!)
-Games weren't super engaging because it was by sports teams, not class- maybe keep sports introductions but have a specific segment where all teams do their cheer (minimizes confusion and time it takes for people to get out of the crowd) and keep games by class
-Keep class shoutouts at a minimum (gets a little repetitive), 2 is good- (1 in the beginning, 1 at the end)
-Theme was a little difficult because it was so vague and incorporated different elements, but we weren't supposed to choose specific portions
Personal: One thing we need to understand is the concept of precedence. People may be upset about the fact that one rally isn't competitive now based on what they experienced in the past, but if we change things now, future classes won't run into any discontent because they won't have any idea of what having 4 competitive rallies is like. (Also that we will still have 2-3 competitive rallies throughout the year!) Honestly, I think we need to look towards the true meaning of what the rally should be (welcoming the incoming freshmen warmly) and deal with the negative repercussions for maybe one or two years (as well as dismiss any personal sentiments or grudges we may have about our first Freshman rallies) in an effort to actually better things. Our peers probably don't care as much about the competitive aspect as we do/think they do, so I feel like it's more important to protect meaning than try to keep them happy by maintaining the status quo.
Nevertheless, Athletics and Spirit did a wonderful job coordinating this, thank you! :)
I really enjoyed the first rally being noncompetitive. I feel it really unified the school, although there are definitely some aspects to improve on. I think the games were a little awkward because people did not know how to cheer for, also especially people on varsity teams are usually upperclassmen. It would be good if there was a lynbrook cheersong, so people could use the cheer to unify the school more. I thought the video was very cute and funny. However, I feel like the rally video should be used more for promotion rather than be played during the rally. This way people are able to be excited for the rally and the theme. I thought the skit went very well and it was smooth. Great job to tech and spirit for a wonderful first rally!
ReplyDeleteI unfortunately was at Singapore during this rally, so I have no first hand experience, but I will mention everything I heard from the people I talked to. So, out of about ten people, only 1 enjoyed the non-competitive aspect. Most were pretty bummed, especially about the rally games. Maybe having no final verdict about getting 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th would have been alright, but perhaps the idea of non-competitive games for sports teams was not fun for people to watch. With having students participating and representing the class, people could be invested in the game, but when it became about sports teams I guess a lot of people felt disconnected.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, please correct me if any of my information is outright wrong; I wasn't here so I may have gotten incorrect information about the details.
But yeah, that is what I heard. Keeping the first rally with no clear winners and losers seems like a great idea to me, but perhaps completely removing all competitive aspects from it will discourage attendance in the future.
But I still congratulate spirit and my fellow techies for a very smooth rally :)