On Tuesday, June 7, students crowded around the auditorium doors, lined up to attend the end of year assembly held by ASB, themed to fit “High School Musical.” The assembly was a mediocre attempt to entice excitement within the student body about the 21-22 school year, although it did have its merits.

Freshman Mara Gonzalez, an ASB member, says about the theme, “The inspiration was that we had originally been thinking of cliche high school graduation movies, because we wanted to do an end of year thing to hype people up…we thought that ‘High School Musical’ [was] so cliche that it [represented] the perception of the idea of high school.” Gonzalez says that the theme also went along with the idea of an assembly, as there would be singing, dancing, and even halftime, which fell in line with the performance delivered.

One of the most notable issues of the assembly were the glaring tech issues. Numerous times throughout the performance did we see microphones fail or videos simply stop working. Not only did this prevent lines from being delivered, but it also ruined the flow of several interactions. 

The assembly kicked off with the band performing “Shut up and Dance with me.” A promising start, this was somewhat tarnished by the aforementioned mic issues. ASB members soon began introductions as members of “High School Musical,” which was met with an outburst of confusion. Of course, this was eventually solved through word-of-mouth, although constant pauses did nothing to help this. Band took the stage once again, performing “Fight Song,” and allowing the events to begin. Shortly after kicking off the assembly with a classic three-legged race, the IHS Band performed their halftime routine. consisting of a performance of “Bop to the Top” with the band.

Out of the entire assembly, halftime was the best part of the event. At this point, ASB members became fully immersed in their roles, Junior Sofia Gonzalez (who played Sharpay) snarkily stated how it was incredulous how the band was performing rather than her. For me, the most interesting part of this performance was an act dubbed “trombone suicide,” in which trombones marched out to the middle of the auditorium and performed choreographed movements as the rest of the band accompanied them by playing their instruments. Synchronized and sharp, this was truly an amazing piece of the performance. 

After halftime, however, the assembly began to slide downhill. The subsequent game was one that I would call somewhat awkward, albeit creative. Students and teachers formed pairs, with the students seated on chairs, slathering whipped creamed on their faces. From there, teachers competed to see who could land the most cheetos on the student volunteers’ faces, the losing teams having their respective students receiving a pie to the face, something I thought was ineffective considering the already existing whipped cream. 

The ceremony picked up again with a PowerPoint of seniors, arranged by the PTSA, presenting their post-graduation plans. The music during this section of the event was very loud; however it was enjoyable and exciting–something that I appreciated in the middle of finals prep week. 

The last major event of the assembly was an iVision movie, which follows the creation of a movie. From what I gathered, the video seemed witty and well-written; however, that was from what little of the production I could comprehend. The bandwidth issues, size of the gym, and lack of subtitles made the majority of the video incomprehensible. Since then, ASB has sent out an email with the video, allowing students to enjoy the film outside of the assembly. ASB Coordinator Kurtis Evans says, “the assembly had a lot of communication between departments. Band, iVision, and Mix it Up, for example, had to coordinate.” The intermixing of groups truly contributed to the assembly and made it more memorable. 

Wrapping up the assembly was a clip from “High School Musical,”and the senior tunnel, a nice final touch. With cheery pop music, the quip certainly helped elevate my energy level, and really tied together the theme. The senior tunnel served as a final farewell to those leaving IHS, and summed up the sentiment of the performance. Although the event was a bit rocky, it had a level of charm and heart that gave it appeal, definitely helping it accomplish its goal of being a fun, quirky, end to the year. Sophomore Samiha Somail sums it up, stating, “I liked the theming of the assembly, and that it was a goodbye to seniors. I liked seeing the celebration of the year and what it stood for.”