The students of Cicely Tyson Community School
gathered in the 800 seat theatre on Thursday afternoon at 2:00 to
participate in a pep rally for the forthcoming game between
Montclair High School and East Orange Campus High on Saturday
(10/02/10).
The students were assembled by their Principal,
Dr. Steve Cowan, who has already begun to make exciting changes
in the way their school is run. Today's rally was for the purpose
of letting the students know the importance of supporting, not
only their Jaguar football team from Campus High, but also the
many groups that contribute to their success, like the Jaguar
Cheerleaders, the East Orange Unified Marching Band with its own
Dancers, Flag Twirlers, and Band Parents.
The drumline of the East Orange Unified Marching
Band started off the performance part of the rally. While they
are always an important part of the full band, they are one of
the few instrumental sections that splits off from the main body
to perform on their own.
Then the drummers were joined by the full East
Orange Unified Marching Band. The band is so named because it is
made up of students from any and all of the East Orange Schools.
The little trumpeter on the left, for instance, is a third grader
from Cicely Tyson Elementary School.
The band's dancers don't make a sound, but
contribute a visual effect to the overall performance whenever
and wherever they perform.
Even the very youngest member of the band,
Mariah Tomlinson, works just as hard at her acrobatics, dancing,
and cheerleading as the oldest members of the band.
Coach Abdul-Mani Hassan, Athletic Director from
East Orange Campus High School, attended the Pep Rally and as
always, lent his support to those organizations who are always
ready to support the Jaguar football team. He works with the
Marching Band to make sure they have bus transportation to the
games and is a constant visitor to the band room.
Coach Marion Bell from East Orange Campus High
is also well known to the students, and was there to encourage
them to come out to Saturday's game and keep supporting them
right through the end of the football season on Thanksgiving Day.
And where would we be without our Jaguar
Cheerleaders? All contribute to the team effort.
But so much depends on how much the schools' own
administrators are cheering on their students to success. The new
principal, Dr. Stephen Cowan, formerly of Glenwood Campus
Alternative High School has begun to bring about changes to give
students more responsibility, such as allowing Seniors (with
parental permission) to go out to lunch off campus, holding
frequent meetings with the students to allow them to discuss
issues affecting their classes, and encouraging student
involvement with clubs and activities within CTS, and between all
the East Orange schools in the areas of sports and athletics. He
attends every football game and is always encouraging students to
do so as well, as he did during this Pep Rally. Occasionally he
even attends band rehearsals and practices. We wish him well in
his efforts to bring more school spirit and school pride to all
the students in East Orange Schools.
