Looking out into the student body gathered in the fieldhouse as screams and cheers get louder and louder as the announcer fires them up for the fall pep session, senior Jared Stanley felt a rush of nervousness engulf him. However, as he charged out in front of the student body and began performing a skit with the other booster club officers, the nervousness quickly disappeared.

Now that Stanley has experienced three pep sessions, his nervousness has transformed into excitement. The excitement combined with the reactions of the student body always remind him of why he continues to participate in booster club and why more people should.

“Being in the booster club is by far the best decision I’ve made in high school,” Stanley said. “It’s worth it because it makes your high school experience 100 times better.”

This year, booster club sponsors Sam Hanley and Stacey Matlock have decided to choose booster club officers based on an interview conducted by Hanley, Matlock and the current booster club officers. In the past, booster club officers were chosen based on an election in which the student body voted on who they wanted as officers.

“It became more of a popularity contest,” Matlock said. “We weren’t getting the qualified people we needed.”

While Matlock says not every booster club officer elected by the student body has been bad, it was more of an inconsistency with good officers and bad ones. The interviews, she says, will help distinguish who will be the best fit for the booster club.

The first step to becoming a booster club officer is submitting an application. Applications were handed out to those who went to the first call-out meeting on Feb. 16. Students must then do a promotion of their choice, which must in some way represent or promote something at SHS. It ranges from plays put on by the theater production class to baseball and STOTAN week. All applications and the promotions are due to Hanley and Matlock on March 10.

After doing so, students who are currently sophomores and juniors will then be granted an interview.

Although it is not final, Hanley and Matlock are looking for around five to eight booster club officers for the 2017-2018 school year. There are other qualifications students must meet that go beyond an interview.

“We look at what they’ve done in the past,” Matlock said. “What are their grades? Are they respected among their peers and teachers? We have high expectations for them. Accountability and reliability are two of the most important qualities.”

Matlock also wants to emphasize that while only around five to eight students are going to be chosen, she invites anybody who believes they can be an asset to the booster club to come out and experience it.

“It’s for everybody,” Matlock said. “It’s great to come up with ideas, but are you willing to take it the extra mile?”