GRANGER High has been known for its amazing and proud student section. The cheerleaders and the SBOs help do their part and make sure that the crowd stays pumped up and that the students are involved. The SBOs are starting a new club at Granger called the Pep Squad.

“The Pep Squad is a group of hype man that are designed to help make it better by having the opportunity to help create and lead in the new cheers to help make our student section better,” Joseph Alvarez (11) said.

There are many sports teams at Granger, and many of the students only cheer for the more popular sports. The Pep Squad helps support all of the sports teams, even the less popular ones.

“The student standing section is very important to Granger and, in a way, it defines us as a school,” Alvarez said. “Personally, I love being in with the crowd and I believe that the Pep Squad will help us get even more students involved,” he said.

For some students being a part of a club is another way for students to get involved if they aren’t very athletic, and some students do both.

“I am on the Tennis team, so I understand that not everyone is cheering on the other sports. I think that the Pep Squad will help us have the Crimson Crowd alive throughout the year,” Alexis Topacio (11) said. “When we had our first meeting, there were a lot of female freshmen and that made me really excited and kind of surprised. I thought there would be more guys, because they’re a little more outgoing than the girls,” Topacio said.

Many other schools have Pep Squads – schools from Hunter to Highland. Many of the advisors of the Pep Squad think that this will help make for a better community at Granger, and they are hoping that it’ll get more kids involved.

“I get that not everyone has the courage to scream and start the cheers before the other students join in, but in this club, we’re going to try and help our peers get over that,” Alvarez said. “This is another amazing opportunity for Granger, and we hope it carries on for years after we graduate.”

There is a lot of work that goes into making a new club and getting the word out. The members of the Pep Squad got the name out by posting it on social media and posting banners all over the school.

“This is an awesome club, and it’s so radical. People think that if you’re in the club, you have to be on a sports team, and you don’t — not everyone has to play,” Ms. Webb said. “We are trying to start recruiting within the school by having students ride the spirit bus,” she said.

The meetings will be held on the first Monday of the month. Members will get assigned a certain number of games that they’ll have to go to, and that will depend on each sports’ number of games and whether they’re played at home or away.