LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. – As soon as I entered the gym on Monday, Jan. 13, I was met with the seating of my first assembly at Los Alamitos High School. I heard the band playing songs that I recognized — “Bad Romance,” “Seven Nation Army” and others — which was a cool experience to walk into. I noticed the giant 2000s-themed posters the ASB team made for each grade level hanging above the bleachers: freshmen were “Camp Rock,” sophomores were “Hannah Montana,” juniors were “Teen Beach Movie” and seniors were “High School Musical,” which was very nostalgic and perfect for the theme.
The assembly began with Sound FX choir singing the national anthem, which was comforting to listen to as the entire student body stood and faced the flag. My last school didn’t do that, so I didn’t have to be the one awkward kid standing up.
After the song, everyone sat back down, and the first performance began with Advanced Dance. Everyone was dancing fast, and the transitions in the performance and music were pretty smooth. It was new to see a hip-hop dance routine because my last school’s culture clubs did flamenco and Polynesian dancing.
Then, four volunteers from each grade were picked to play a 2000s-themed “finish the lyrics” game, which added to my nostalgia. I was too busy paying attention to the music, so I didn’t see who won, but I knew it wasn’t a freshman.
After that, the boys’ varsity basketball team unexpectedly performed a dance number with the cheer team. The part that made me laugh was when the basketball players frolicked around the cheer team. The gym lights turned off during the performance, and the basketball and cheer teams separated while one girl and boy did a mini duet referencing “High School Musical.” I didn’t immediately get the reference, but I still found it entertaining.
As soon as the number ended, a video played on the gym’s screens showcasing tough-looking videos of all the spring-semester sports teams. I thought that was really neat and exciting because my last school didn’t do that either.
After the video ended and the lights came on, ASB rolled out the red carpet to present the nominees for winter formal court. Each nominee for prince, princess, king and queen and their two escorts walked down the carpet, waving to students, performing stunts and showing off in a fun manner. One group did a “Charlie’s Angels” pose at the end of the carpet, one group wore matching pink tutus and another nominee his escorts carry him on their shoulders, which was pretty funny to watch.
After all the nominees had walked down the red carpet, ASB held two “human ring toss” rounds: one round with the prince and princess nominees and the other with kings and queens. Both games were as chaotic as one could imagine!
ASB concluded the assembly with an LAHS tradition, the “roller coaster” cheer. Each grade seated in the gym competed on how loud they could be while ASB members led them along in the cheer. The freshmen were not as into it for reasons I cannot think of, and I believe that the seniors won because this is their last year of high school. This whole experience of a typical LAHS school assembly was very different and fun for me, and I’m excited to be a part of it for the next four years.
