Bodies are packed on wooden benches. Smiles, shouting and rising excitement fill the air. Friends find each other and file into sections separated by grade. A symphony of cheers erupts as each of them presents themselves at the first assembly of the year.

But that doesn’t last for long.

The deep sound of booing spreads through the gym as sophomores, juniors and seniors boo freshmen. As sophomores and juniors begin their cheers, seniors continue their booing, eventually erupting into cheers of pride for their own grade.

Booing is viewed by many as a time-honored tradition at assemblies, with some seniors regarding it as a rite of passage. When a freshman class is booed, the cycle of spite continues as they move up in the Jaguar community.

“I think [booing is] a tradition that’s been held since we got here,” Kyle Dunker ‘25 said. “I’m going to do it.”

According to a recent Instagram poll by @rcrockmedia, 71 students said they would partake in booing underclassmen, while 36 said they would not.

There is a discussion of what impact booing has on underclassmen. Compared to last year, more efforts have been made to shift the tradition to cheering.  English teacher Kate Kubina recorded a video message for the school, which was broadcast during Seminar prior to the assembly. In the message, Kubina urged students to move to a more constructive tradition. 

“[The video] was really never about shaming,” Kubina said. “It was [more that] I know we can do better because there are so many great people that deserve a chance to be celebrated. [The video] was about being positive and trying to spread that positive message.”

In addition, Kubina’s video didn’t go as originally planned. Other teachers were scheduled to record similar videos in support, though they did not show up. When asked for names, Kubina chose to remain silent.

“I think the booing culture isn’t even [towards] just freshman anymore,” Kubina said. “There are people booing the sophomores, the sophomores booing the juniors, the seniors [are] getting booed [too]. It’s gotten out of control to [the point] where the joy of assemblies is now just about who boos, versus celebrating, which is what assemblies are meant to do.”

Some students have agreed with Kubina’s train of thought, offering their perspectives on the harmful tradition.

“The freshman [are] expecting to come in with everyone supporting them and us booing them makes them upset and sad,” Daksha Gopalakrishnan ‘25 said. “Mr. Watkins said we’re the only school that actually boos our freshman, and all the other schools like Chaparral [High School] clap. So, maybe, if one person starts, the others will start.”

Similarly, some began publicly stating their opposition to the tradition.

“I was sitting in a car with a bunch of my friends and we were having lunch together,” Sophia Miller ‘25 said. “I didn’t phrase [cheering for the freshmen] as a question, like, ‘Do you guys want to join this movement?’ I phrased it more as, ‘The senior class is doing this, join us.’  And as soon as I said that, they just started laughing. They [said], ‘No, there’s no way we’re doing that. The freshmen are the ones who are shoving us in the hallways, the freshmen are the ones with the superior egos and they need to be humbled. It’s not like anyone comes home crying from the assemblies because they got booed. It’s tradition, and we’re not going to stop that. The freshmen need to be humbled.’”

The issue isn’t clean-cut, and many don’t believe booing is problematic.

“For the past three years I’ve been in high school, [administration] hasn’t said anything about the booing. Especially [bringing it up] during the first assembly, I just don’t understand it. It makes all the seniors upset because it’s a tradition at high school to boo [the freshman],” Olivia Bruns ‘25 said.

Despite the video’s message, some students are unsure of its impact. Students who disagreed with the request seemed determined to boo.

“I think the booing got louder this year,” Sarah Bloom ‘25 said.

Many of those who argue for the booing share a common explanation: “Everyone has gotten booed their freshman year of high school,” Bruns said. “I don’t think it should bug them.”

However, some think that answer is not good enough. Supporting Kubina’s argument, English teacher Andrew Watkins holds strong convictions about the topic.

“Just because it’s tradition does not mean it’s okay,” Watkins said. “One student said, ‘Well, we’re never going to change the culture.’ I know I’m comparing apples to oranges, I know I’m being hyperbolic, but imagine if we had that attitude [of] ‘well, it’s never going to change,’ [toward everything.’ We wouldn’t have young women [in schools.] They would say, ‘it’s tradition that women stay at home and have kids, so we’re not going to change that.’ It took a couple of women to stand up and say, ‘No, we’re going to change that.’ So, that’s the attitude.”

A main concern of the booing tradition is that it encourages division in the student body, however, some freshmen seem to disagree. Though many were contacted, the general consensus was that few wanted to publicly share their opinions.

“It was funny to see how everyone came together to dislike the freshmen,” Josh Bloom ‘28 said. “It’s a funny tradition. I want to continue the tradition of booing new freshmen so the tradition still stands long after the people who made it are in college.”

According to Kubina, however, this isn’t the only belief of the freshman class.

“[My freshmen] were bothered by [the booing],” Kubina said. “I had a lot of students saying, ‘we heard that there was booing, but we didn’t know it was going to be like that.’ There were [also] students that were like, ‘I’m confused because we have this Link Crew to welcome freshmen to our school, but at the assembly, we feel like we’re not welcome.’”

While it is the norm in the Jaguar community, not all see it as “just the way things are.” Forensics teacher Laura Murphy began teaching here this fall. Before that, she worked at Thunder Ridge High School for several years.

“I’ve never encountered a high school environment where any class booed the other class,” Murphy said. “At Thunder Ridge, we actually cheer the freshmen. They’re still freshmen, they still have to pay their dues [and] they still get picked on a little bit in the general sense, but never have I seen a whole freshman class get booed by anyone.”

Although it’s regarded as a tradition, it’s clear the school needs an update to its old ways.

“I know the argument is that [booing] isn’t that big of a deal,” Watkins said. “But, I don’t think that’s the [right] argument. The argument is we should be a bit more welcoming and a little bit more like, ‘You’re a Jag now, you’re one of us, [and] if anybody messes with you, they’re messing with us.’”