By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM— In preparation for Pelham High School’s homecoming football game and dance, the SGA planned a series of events to pep up the students and promote school spirit.

For the first time in nearly 20 years, the Panthers paraded down Bearden Road, cheering from decorated trailers, trucks and convertibles. Pelham Mayor Gary Waters said the only other spirit walk in Pelham took place in 1997, and the city has not had another since then.

“We are pretty excited about it because we’ve never gotten to do this before,” Jessica Schach, an SGA teacher leader, said the day before the spirit walk. “It should be a good time we had a lot of kids participating in it.”

Many of the school’s teams and clubs, including peer helpers, SGA, art club, the thespians, football players, cheerleaders, letterman, softball team and more, were involved in the walk.

The homecoming queen candidates rode in convertibles, waving to the crowd as they drove by, and the band provided lively music as they marched.

The Pelham Police Department blocked off Bearden Road from Pelham High School to Warehouse 31 where the walk ended. After the parade, the students joined together at Warehouse 31 for karaoke from 6:30-9:30 p.m.

“The kids really like karaoke,” Schach said. “They started it a couple years ago and they ended up having more because the kids enjoy getting together and getting to be silly.”

In addition to the spirit walk, every day at Pelham High School gave students the opportunity to show their pep. Monday was Decade Day where the students dressed in their favorite era.

That morning, 12 guys also participated in the Mr. PHS beauty pageant. Each did a walkout, performed a talent and entertained a sold-out house of students.

“It was really funny,” Schach said. “The guys were really into it and tried to make it as funny as possible.”

Seniors dressed up in togas on Tuesday’s Tacky Day, and all the students wore pink for the powder puff game on Wednesday. Schach said the powder puff games have been a tradition at Pelham for a while now, and they are always fun.

The underclassmen girls played a kickball game Wednesday evening followed by the upperclassmen girls participating in a flag football game.

Friday, the Pelham Panthers will take on Briarwood Christian School on the football field and the homecoming queen will be crowned at halftime. To prepare for the game, there will also be a pep rally before the game.

“Our kids are very into school spirit,” Schach said. “The pep rallies, the kids get very excited and they plan things for the different grade levels. So they will all wear the same color and bring noise makers.”