When the Redbird Rally first became an event, it was supposed to be an opportunity for high school students to explore activities the school had to offer, such as the football game, tailgating, dances, and different clubs.
Later, the Redbird Rally became more directed at the entire district, keeping the high school activities and adding events for younger kids, such as bounce houses and carnival games.
The Redbird Rally moved to the middle school three years ago, allowing the high school students to enjoy the activities without the young students around.
“I felt like it was too congested and our high school experience wasn’t what I wanted it to be,” said Roger Allen, DPHS principal.
Mr. Allen said that the location of the events was too confusing for parents; with older kids activities down by the parking lot and younger kids up by the school, it was easy to get mixed up or lost in the crowd of people attending.
However, this change has brought some problems to the smaller clubs in the high school – and the people running them.
The Redbird Rally at the high school wasn’t just a place for families to hang out with their kids before the football game – it was also the main promotion point of most smaller clubs such as Cheese Club, Ski and Snowboard Club, Anime Club, and French Club.
“It was a good way to let kids know what we had going on at De Pere High School,” said Mr. Mohar, who advises many clubs. “They would come before the football game and hang out, and we would talk about clubs. It was a good thing.”
Now that the club promotion part is gone, smaller clubs have been losing attendance, with some clubs having about half as many people attending as they used to, according to Mr. Mohar.
But recently, some club advisors have been talking about having another event to promote clubs during Homecoming Week, October 6-12.
“We want to bring a climbing wall in, and we’re going to call it ‘Clubfest,’” said Mr. Mohar. “Maybe during the Freshman Frenzy we could have a representative from each club and we just had a half hour, just people to walk through and say, ‘Hey, this is what we’ve got.’”
