Main story: At Christopher rally, students get warm welcome back

“Once a Cougar, always a Cougar,” is school’s motto

Photo by Grayson LaBarreare
Students reach for a T-shirt shot into the stands during Christopher High School’s welcome-back rally.

By Grayson LaBarreare

After a long summer break, the doors opened in late August for the 2024-25 school year at Christopher High School, greeting new students, returning students, staff, and teachers. Many of the 1,900 students looked forward to the annual event designed as a fun way to reunite the Cougars.

Photo by Grayson LaBarreare

Held Friday, Aug, 30, Christopher’s welcome-back rally is a key staple for the school’s kickoff into new and old student connections. Decorated with the school colors of gold, teal, black and white, the rally contains many engaging events that invite the students and staff to join together as a Cougar family bonding experience. Events this year included: a bleacher versus bleacher sing-off, baseball knowledge questions, a prize contest, a t-shirt toss, and musical chairs.

Christopher junior Alexia Rodriguez heads the Associated Student Body’s rally committee. She does a lot of work behind the scenes to make sure the rally provides a perfect time full of fun for everyone watching and participating.

“I help write the script of the rallies, choose rally music, pick rally games, and decide the theme and decor,” Rodriguez said.

Her main focus is to ensure the incoming freshmen feel welcome into Christopher and are excited for their upcoming four years at the school. The rally brings students together in a creative rivalry, helps them make friends, and become tightly knit with their peers, she said.

“I need to show them the cougar spirit and hope they join in,” Rodriguez said.

Joining the influx of freshmen, Melody D’Angelo enjoyed her first rally experience. A freshman middle blocker/oppo on the school’s varsity volleyball team, she said she connected with other students with the free seating and all the games the young people could participate in.

“My favorite part of the rally was the sing-off between both sides of the gym,” D’Angelo said.

Photo by Grayson LaBarreare

Moving on from the freshman and coming as a previous rally expert, Isaiah Bravo, a junior, said his favorite rally memory was at the snowball rally last year when he caught one of the rally T-shirts, during the famous T-shirt toss. As the years went on, Isaiah moved up the ranks to capture the rally highlights by taking photos for the yearbook class.

“It’s someone’s job to capture these special moments for others,” he said. “I’ve already had my first rally, so capturing these moments for new freshmen to look back on in the yearbook makes me happy.”

Christopher High School, which opened its doors in 2009, bears the name of a prominent local family deeply rooted in Gilroy’s agricultural heritage. The Christopher family, owners of Christopher Ranch, made significant contributions to establish the school. Christopher Ranch, renowned for its garlic production, stands as one of Gilroy’s largest employers, underscoring the family’s importance to the local economy.

The Christophers’ commitment to education in their community was evident in their generous donation of 10 acres of land for the school’s campus. Moreover, they demonstrated long-term investment in the school’s future by initiating an endowment fund with a substantial initial contribution of $75,000. This financial support laid a strong foundation for the school’s development and ongoing operations.

The establishment of Christopher High School thus represents a collaboration between private enterprise and public education, reflecting the community’s dedication to providing quality educational opportunities for its youth.

Chris Leong, the Advanced Placement director and Academic Language Development teacher, finds he’s always happy to see the unity of the school’s students at rallies. With his active involvement, the welcome back rally is the first event of the year that brings the entire Cougar family together. It’s also a reminder that while education is Christopher’s main focus, school spirit and coming together is always a main priority.

Leong’s favorite detail of the rally is that students don’t have to be required to sit by grade level but wherever they want. This solidifies the idea of one school, one family, he said.

“The Christopher High School ASB (Association Student Body) put in a lot of work to make these rallies enjoyable for everyone and I hope that the students understand that school can be a place of education and enjoyment,” Leong said.

As the new school year unfolds, Christopher’s students and staff will have many moments to cherish and remember, he said. Among these will be the freshmen’s experience of their first Welcome Back Rally, a welcoming event to unite everyone into the Cougar family. “Once a Cougar, always a Cougar,” goes the school’s motto.

Grayson LaBarreare is a junior at Christopher High School. She wrote this story for Gilroy Life with mentorship from publisher Marty Cheek.