While most schools have homecoming traditions that range from floats to dances, Ward Melville has forged its own path in homecoming traditions: streakers racing through the pep rally.

The tradition commenced last year when a courageous senior decided to breathe some life and excitement into the otherwise dull pep rally by taking off across the field during the announcement of the football lineup sans clothing in front of the entire school and a large majority of school officials and teachers. This year, as homecoming became closer and closer, the question everyone seemed to ask was if another senior would step up to the job and continue the legacy left behind by the 2018 class.

Much to the student’s pleasure and the staff’s dismay, a second streaker did make an appearance this year. Unlike last year, this year’s streaker actually got caught in the act.

The year prior, the streaker was able to evade the school’s disciplinary system for a few weeks before finally being caught and punished, but this year, almost as if anticipating a return, the school was able to stop the streaker before he got the opportunity to leave the premise of Ward Melville.

While the streaker clearly violated the school’s rules and procedures, he built a sense of community and camaraderie amongst students. There was no louder or more engaged moment in the pep rally than when the streaker took off from under the bleachers across the field. And after he had been caught by the school, the students erupted into chants, shouting “Let him free” from their seats.

For a school that overwhelmingly lacks school spirit, this seems to be the last resort to keep fellow students engaged and at least partially entertained during an event designed to muster up some school pride but ultimately seen as a chore.

As we move forward into the next year, the question arises, will the class of 2020 continue the tradition, or let it die out, after a brief two years of fame?