Deafening cheers from the bleachers, lively music pulsing through the gym, blue and orange sprinkled throughout students and teachers alike: Pep Rally had begun.

The annual event held to end Spirit Week is always highly anticipated and enjoyed by all, as it is meant to bring the school closer together as a whole. While it literally packs all four grades into one gymnasium, Pep Rally also collects the enthusiasm and energy of North’s community, creating a closer bond for the entire student body.

But Pep Rally is not all about the students. Teachers and other faculty members can get just as involved in the Advisor Games, where a group of adults is chosen to represent each class as they battle each other in various competitions. These contests include a three-legged race, a bag hopping relay, and a tug of war face-off.

As the class representatives marched in donning their distinct grade shirts, the onlooking audience buzzed. Students debated which team had the best recruits, exclaimed about their favorite teachers, and shouted in excitement for their team.

The relay races began with the three-legged race, in which two teachers hugged each other at the waist and tied their middle legs together before attempting to sprint down the gym. The sophomore and freshman team gained an early lead with the first leg, as Mr. Henriquez and Ms. Silk drove their teammate to victory.

But things made a quick turnaround during the wheelbarrow walk, as Mr. Zak for the juniors zoomed past the two grades, followed closely by Mr. Lawson who represented the seniors.

By the final leg, all four groups were almost even, but juniors and sophomores led the bag hopping race until Ms. Silk for the sophomores tumbled into a somersault on the ground, allowing the Juniors to remain victorious for the relay race.

The main battle was about to begin, as teachers wiped their sneakers and slipped on gloves to aid them in the tug of war. First, the underclassmen were pitted against each other, and after a long struggle the freshmen pulled through, dragging the sophomores down to the floor as they won. Ms. Nastri was a sophomore representative that fell multiple times during the struggle, and explains how she still managed to find it fun.

“I think the students really enjoy watching us make fools of ourselves and it’s really fun for them to see the teachers in a different light. I love participating because it’s a way to get involved with the student body on such a unique level,” Nastri said.

The upperclassmen took their positions, and the battle began once again. This time, the Juniors just barely succeeded over the seniors. The losers and winners from the first round then faced each other, with sophomores winning over the seniors and the freshmen beating out the juniors.

The final advisor games standings are as follows: sophomores, juniors, freshmen, seniors.

Although the advisor games spark a competitive side of school members, the most important thing to be gained from advisor games is not a rivalrous nature in the competition, but rather a sense of bonding through teacher student connection. Students like junior Sarah Frankel express the appeal of seeing school staff in Pep Rally.

“The advisor games are fun and entertaining because we get to see the teachers become involved in school spirit and we also get to see them have a fun time,” Frankel said.