Before the December break, the SGA was asked to host the final assembly. We were already planning to host a pep rally to welcome back our SAISA athletes and congratulate those who had participated in other events so this worked out well in the schedule. This was quite some time ago but I really wanted to reflect on this assembly because it worked so well, partially due to the fact that it was different. A new approach to school spirit.

For this assembly we would be in the auditorium. A space students love to be in because of all the possibilities with the lighting and sound, but one they very quickly zone out in because of the plush seats and the opportunity to be far away from the stage giving people the chance to speak to their friends. Is is already observable that this is something we needed to account for. Student attention. Since we had access to a big screen, we employed the help of a slideshow to keep the audience facing the stage, looking at the pictures of the teams or other eye-capturing graphics we placed on the slides. Since there was already a lot of student participation with the SAISA teams coming to the front and their friends cheering for them, we solved this issue quickly.

Another thing we had to do was fill the entire hour. If we put together all the community celebrations and the videos, we would at the very most make it to 30 mins. So we had to fill it with something entertaining. The first of which was a jeopardy style game. We had 2 teams, each with 1 person from each grade level 6-12. We had questions based on holidays, global cuisines, fun teacher facts and more. It was very entertaining to see how passionate people got (maybe too passionate when they harassed the presenters). But for the most part everyone got along very well.

We also had some amazing performances by our school band ‘Resonance’ who played us through to the holidays. Whilst the band strummed away on their guitars, smashing the cymbals and singing melodies into the mic; to crowd partook in some dancing, got their lights out and moved their bodies to the beat as the OSC Gecko mascot broke it down on stage.

I think this assembly worked so well because it was unpredictable for the audience apart from SAISA celebrations. There was something new for them to do and watch which kept them under control and from walking away when the assembly hasn’t even finished yet. This isn’t an assembly to be doing all the time but every once in a while would change things up a bit and keep the SGA fresh.

Featured Image Credit: Melinda Tondeur