Middle-school spirit rallies planned to bolster Buccaneer pride

Beth Christian Broschart
February 7, 2022

BUCKHANNON – Students and staff at Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School celebrated with a ‘spirit rally’ Thursday to highlight the accomplishments of their winter sports, their band and students of the month while building school spirit.

B-UMS principal Samantha Leput said the school is sponsoring spirit rallies once a month to help build the school culture.

The Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School Cheerleaders assist students in showing their enthusiasm Thursday during the school’s spirit rally. The cheerleaders were introduced to the B-UMS student body along with winter sports team members on the girls basketball, boys basketball, wrestling and shooting sports teams. Recipients of the B-UMS Students of the Month were also introduced during the rally where the eighth grade won the spirit stick. Students celebrated each day of the week by dressing as cowboys/cowgirls on Monday, the 80s on Tuesday, sports teams on Wednesday and blue-and-white on Thursday.

“We want every one of our students to be proud and want them to want to come to school,” Leput said. “We also celebrated spirit week and every day of the week we dressed up. Monday was cowboy/cowgirl day, Tuesday was 80s day, Wednesday was sports day and of course, today was blue-and-white day. We have been keeping tallies of who is participating each day and at the end of this spirit rally, we will present the spirit stick to whichever grade has shown the most spirit.”

During the rally, which was organized by the B-UMS Student Council. During the event, students recognized were members of B-UMS winter sports including those on the cheerleading squad, boys basketball, girls basketball, wrestling and shooting sports teams.

Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School administrators wheel through the obstacle course Thursday as classes and principals compete during the spirit rally at the school. Obstacles included riding a dolly, jumping hurdles, wriggling through a tunnel, jumping rope with a Hula Hoop and crossing the finish line walking like a crab. B-UMS Principal Samantha Leput said activities like this help improve the school culture and helps students take pride in their school.

After being introduced to the student body, teams competed against one another in a game of giants, wizards and elves – similar to rock, paper and scissors.

Athletic skills were not the only strengths recognized during the spirit rally. B-UMS students of the month for the past few months were also introduced and touted for their accomplishments.

Music for the event was provided by the B-UMS band under the direction of Seth Stemple.

Students and staff also participated in two additional games: a relay race and an Oreo cookie challenge. The obstacle course pitted students against Leput and B-UMS Assistant Principals Sloan Baisden, Amy Cale and George Haskins, who rode on a dolly, jumped through hurdles, wiggled through a tunnel, jump roped with a Hula Hoop and crab-walked to the finish line. The winner for that event was the seventh-grade team followed closely by the sixth-grade team.

After all the games were completed and the numbers were tallied, Leput said she is proud of all the B-UMS students. At the conclusion of the rally, students in all grades cheered as Leput presented the spirit stick to the winning class at B-UMS — the eighth-grade students.