On January 13, Alex Ayala, a senior at Park View High School, was waiting at the door of his house to be picked up by his friend. While in the middle of his wait, Ayala became distracted as his phone vibrated through the left pocket of his shorts. He got a text from Daniel McIntyre: the pep rally was canceled at the last minute due to unknown reasons. Frustration and confusion quickly filled Ayala’s mind as he left home, disappointed for the day. 

“Why are they canceling this? This is something seniors keep looking forward to. This is our last year, too,” argued Alex Ayala. 

The frustration didn’t stop there for Alex Ayala. Upon entering the SCA classroom, he was met with challenges for the ambassadors to tackle. Some students were planning a walkout in protest of the late cancellation of the pep rally. The SCA ambassadors quickly devised a way to prevent students from not proceeding with the walkout. They began to text individuals and student group chats about the consequences of creating a walkout: the possibility of having no more pep rallies in the future. 

“The message Maddie wrote [to the group chat] under my name managed to calm them down,” said Senior Emma Macik. 

Students’ desperation to get answers about the cancellation started when Ms. Poplawski  sent the following Remind message at 9:14am: “From Dr. Jefferson: The Pep Rally has been canceled. We will be following a regular schedule today.” 

Rumors about the decision started to spread, and students became more curious as they went to SCA for answers. However, no one knew what was going on. Daniel McIntyre, the SCA President, was also trying to get answers.

When first questioned, many administrators responded with not knowing why the pep rally was canceled. Around 10:15am, a response was given by Dr. Jefferson. 

“There are things that have happened this week and that are ongoing where today isn’t the best day for a pep rally,” Dr. Jefferson explained. 

Dr. Jefferson elaborated, and even went live on Instagram with @pvhstheview to say that the well-being and safety of the students at Park View High School was the first reason that he postponed the pep rally. According to Dr. Jefferson, he received new information while getting ready to go to school, which caused him to become worried. He did not disclose what this information was due it being an ongoing police investigation.

“There are some walkers who come through the gate through Claude Moore. That gate is going to be opened and closed on a daily basis. So, opened in the morning so that folks can walk through and… reopened in the afternoon so that folks can go home,” Dr. Jefferson said.

While the pep rally was previously scheduled for January 13, Activities Director Kiera Poplawski sent out a message saying Park View will be utilizing its snow date of January 20th to reschedule the Winter Pep Rally.

Dr. Jefferson asks for students to, “be patient and be understanding… be patient with the postponement, and know that next week, I give you my word that we will be celebrating.”