By Elizabeth Campos
Staff Writer
Gabrielino High School’s Key Club headed to Six Flags to compete and raise money for
the Pediatric Trauma Program (PTP) at Fall Rally South on Nov. 10. The PTP is an organization that promotes the “[development of] local projects which will reduce the number of children in our three-state District who are killed or injured by trauma, ensuring all children live happy, healthy and safe lives.”
At Fall Rally South, students from regions of California, Nevada, and Hawaii came together to celebrate their accomplishments in Key Club and help the PTP. The money was raised through a portion of profits from the tickets donated to the PTP on behalf of the Key Club organization. Due to the Key Club District’s massive size, two fall rallies are held each year. One is held at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom for divisions up north and Six Flags Magic Mountain for those down south.
Eleven schools came together from Gabrielino’s division, District 10 South, the biggest region in the Cal-Nev-Ha District. Students in the division raised $3,800 for PTP and won the Spirit Stick, winning them Fall Rally South. The Spirit Stick is an incentive to promote the overall pride in the organization, encouraging each school to cheer for their own division. The division that has the most enthusiasm by shouting cheers is awarded the Spirit Stick. Students dressed in spirit gear in their division colors and carried signs to represent their division.
“I remember going up and down the bleachers, making sure that everyone was participating,” stated junior Edward Tran, Executive Assistant. “Everyone [was] in sync, and [we] all did the pauses, stomps, claps, and motions [of the cheers]. I was ecstatic when they announced that Division 10 South won the Spirit Stick.”
Students also got to meet other students from other divisions and reunite with those they had met previously at Fall Rallies before.
“We spirit battled, exchanged social media accounts, searched for food, took pictures, reunited with friendships and went on rollercoasters,”
Tran also said. As students were given set times to attend the rallies held through the day, they were allowed to roam the park and celebrate their victories after the scheduled events were over.
“[It] was amazing. We won Fall Rally, celebrated our PTP accomplishments, and got to ride a lot of rides,” stated Gabrielino Key Club President Sean Do.
