[nggallery id=21 template=carousel]Radford welcomed new and returning students with its first assembly of the school year on Aug. 7, and seniors took first place in the cheer competition, setting in motion, a fortuitous start for their last year at school.

The Welcome Back assembly included performances by the school’s nationally ranked cheerleaders, interactive class games, and a live performance of “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” by former Brown Bag winners Eugene Tunac (11) and Nicole Villejo (12).

”Of all the years I’ve been here, this is the most fun assembly,” said Marielle Yasay (11).

New faculty members were announced at the assembly. They included science teachers Suzie Wallace and Dean Munsayac, English teachers Tom Tereschuk and Jamie Economou, band instructor Nicole Sherlock, and resource teacher Tiffany Lum.

Classes competed in an interactive game for points.  Students representing their grade levels participated in a Treasure Hunt activity.  “The first person runs to the other end, and must find the same color paper as the one raised in the front, and [then], run back and crawl under the rest of the [students standing in line], and keep doing it till everyone went,” Student Activities Coordinator John Goto said, in an email, explaining the game.

During the assembly, students took to their feet and chanted their class cheer in the grade level cheer competition. Each class received a score based on the volume of their cheers.

“We have a sound meter,” Goto said, “and we use the loudest decibel during the grade level cheer.”

With classes screaming for the coveted title, Zanobia Lewis (9) said that “it was very loud.”

Despite the noise, Frances Jessika Fox-Edrada (10) said, “I thought it was energetic and fun, but the sophomores should have won.”

Months of planning go into each assembly. Student Council member Jackie Ragodos (11) said, “Planning the welcome back assembly takes a lot of putting yourself in other people’s shoes. Since it is the first assembly you need to set things off right and making a good first impression. So you need to make sure the things you do for all of the other students will understand and enjoy.”

A day before the assembly, leadership students visited advisory classes, with instructions on what color(s) to wear. Bleachers were filled with sophomores clad in white, seniors dressed in black, juniors attired in white and blue, and freshmen donned in red. Sophomores even made pom poms for the event.

While it was a reprieve from the classrooms, it wasn’t a break from the heat.

Makayla Billingsley (12) said, “They really need an AC in there.”

Fox-Edrada (10) shared the same sentiments. “It’s too hot. Get some fans.”