It’s a Friday night, and the student section is erupting with energy. Evelin Thalacker, senior, climbs the Wood Pep Nation ladder in the iconic red overalls while she holds up a sign to get the crowd excited with another cheer. The huge lights shine down on the dressed up students while Wood Pep Nation keeps the energy up the whole night.
Thalacker, senior, is a member of Wood Pep Nation at KHS. She said it’s very important to her, and she’s excited to take on the responsibilities of the role.
“To me, [Wood Pep Nation] means showing leadership throughout the school and bringing school spirit back to KHS.” Thalacker said. “It’s important to have senior leaders show their school spirit and how much the school means to them.”
Thalacker joined to be more involved at KHS and to be in a role underclassmen can look up to. In order to join Wood Pep Nation, the prerequisite classes are Intro to Marketing and Advanced Marketing. Zach Kirk and Bryce Bunton teach these classes and sponsor the group.
“The best way to describe Wood Pep Nation is [that it] ultimately [is] an entity made up of our student body,” Bunton said. “Its goal is to instill Pioneer pride and to showcase our different students and athletes throughout the school doing fun, positive things.”
One way that Wood Pep Nation showcases the student body is through their Instagram page. Kirk says that social media has had a large impact on Wood Pep Nation.
“Social media gives a lot more exposure,” Kirk said. “We’ve been able to teach how the real world is using social media, and the students are able to see what works and doesn’t work [on social media], which is fascinating.”
Bunton and Kirk’s goal for Wood Pep Nation is to focus on the importance of school spirit. They said they want to slow down and reflect on how it’s more than just being loud at football games, and instead having pride in being a pioneer.
“We are trying to encourage our seniors to enjoy the moment of being a senior here at KHS.” Bunton said. “There’s so much going on in our world and so much negativity that doesn’t have to be here.”
