The spring pep session on April 12 was a let down, to say the least. Only around 400 students signed up to attend the pep rally in a fieldhouse built to seat 7,124 people. Despite the efforts of announcers and booster club members, the crowd didn’t seem fully invested in the pep activities meant to bolster school spirit. But how are they supposed to be invested in phrases that they can’t even understand?

Over the past three years of my high school career, I’ve noticed how the low and foggy sound system of the fieldhouse easily blends in with the chatter of the crowd, even during pep sessions and basketball games where not even a quarter of the bleachers are populated. Even during graduation speeches, when the fieldhouse is packed yet quiet, spectators have to listen closely in order to make out maybe half of what the speaker is saying. 

This should not even be an issue at SHS. Having one of the largest high school fieldhouses in the nation, we should have a clear sound system to back up the hard work of announcers, booster club members, graduates and anyone else who wishes to utilize the space to have their voice heard. With a historic fieldhouse and an ambitious booster club, school spirit should be soaring, but instead only about 17% of the SHS student population willingly chooses to participate in pep sessions, and many of those who participate simply talk over the speakers.

Whether it will simply take turning up the volume or investing in a new system completely, action needs to be taken to fix this issue. If we want students to be passionate about our fieldhouse events, there should be no question that they need to be able to understand the hosts.