As the end of the first quarter arrives, Torrance High’s first rally of 2025-26 has just concluded. As this wasn’t just an ordinary rally, it was our Homecoming rally, the day before our King and Queen would be announced.
As part of Spirit Week, rally days are always held on Friday, where each grade wears its class color: Freshmen in green, Sophomores in red, Juniors in yellow, and Seniors in blue. This year’s
Before the rally, the current standings for class points were Freshmen in 4th place with 350 points, followed by Sophomores with 360 points, Seniors with 370 points, and in first place, the Juniors with 400 points.
As Tartars entered the gym, the Freshmen experienced their first rally with the decorations filling the room with the grades’ bright colors. Seniors were voted with the best decorations amongst all the students, Sophomores in second, Freshmen following, and lastly Juniors. However, the staff who were involved in the voting agreed that the Freshmen’s decor was one of the best decorations from the Freshmen they’ve seen in a while. As they begin their first rally for the rest of their high school years to come, the Seniors had their last first rally forever, a bittersweet moment for everyone.
To rouse up the crowd, the classes began competing in thrilling games, starting with a relay race. The relay consisted of two people from each grade sprinting to feed a donut to one of them, then having two others slam a balloon with their bodies, revealing a letter that a teacher from each grade had to spell out. After they popped the balloon then someone would have to pull their grades mascot across the gym floor, finally retrieving the last letter spelling out a short word to take the win. Freshmen and Sophomores challenged each other with a win taken by the Freshmen. The Juniors and Seniors faced off, ending in the final game against the Juniors and Freshmen. Juniors took their first win of the year, followed by the Freshmen in second. The Sophomores and Seniors tied for 3rd, ending with the same amount of spirit points.
The next game was an intense battle named “Hungry, Hungry, Hippos”. That game consisted of all grades competing against each other, with three from each grade. One student from each grade is on a rolling surface as another student is pushing them, trying to capture each of the tiny balls; however, there are larger dodgeballs worth more points, specifically colored to each grade. The third student is placing every ball that the other two get into a bucket for ASB to count the total number of points.
The last game was a pizza box slap battle, with two students from each grade holding a colored pizza box in each of their hands. For you to win, you had to have one person from your grade still standing. Although the seniors are used to being in the top 2, they unexpectedly took last place, then the Juniors followed with, and in the end, it was an extreme battle with the Freshmen and Sophomores, the 2 underclassmen ending up in the final, with a win taken by Sophomore Stevie Ventura. Sophomore Representative Tania Barajas exclaimed, “That was the first time Preston and I ran into the court after winning a game because it was such a big deal that we not only won but we got the seniors out first,” a surreal moment for the entire gym.
Throughout the rally, there was an intense buildup to the awaited Top 30 dance with 15 boys and 15 girls who were voted from the previous weeks for homecoming King and Queen. These 30 seniors configured a dance amongst themselves as well as a partner dance as they walked up in pairs of two. Tartars, amongst the different extracurriculars here at Torrance, also performed, including Drill and Cheer, putting on an exciting performance for everyone to watch.
At last, the rally came to a close. THS ended it as always by singing the alma mater in unison with everyone side by side, holding each other, signifying the Torrance bond everyone holds, keeping on the forever tradition.
