The Scots were treated to an eye-opening performance by dance teams, the cheerleading team, football players, the chamber choir, and Carlmont Drumline before the most highly anticipated football game of the year.

You would think the assembly is pre-organized, but actually the performances are kept a secret. Even the Associated Student Body (ASB) has no idea what is in store for them.

Yearly, teams and participants are contacted by ASB in advance to give them an adequate amount of time to plan and practice.

Henson Kwok, a senior in Drumline said, “We put a lot of time and effort into it and a ton of rehearsals. We’ve been working on the music since the beginning of the school year, but the actual choreography [was] like three weeks of practice.”

English teacher Bobby Owens said, “The major highlight for me was the drumming and the cheerleaders. I loved it, it was a totally fun thing to do for the kids.”

Unlike other years, students were introduced with a brief video to help pump up spirit. Audiences chuckled at “Survivor,” which is a mock version of the reality game show that airs on CBS. Seniors Tristan Gasperian, Reggie Chatman, Ethan Wallace, and Jared Fitzpatrick played the characters. ASB used applause and cheering to determine which of the four was the winner.

As the intermediate dance team was welcomed on, the crowd went wild like safari animals. Many students were dressed as their favorite safari animal costumes, others pretended to be lost tourists. Even the decorations for the assembly matched with Thursday’s spirit day theme. Special thanks to Tony Loiacono, who is the owner of Copenhagen Balloons. He decked the gym.

According to Loiacono, “[Carlmont] always asks for the most unique and creative things […] because of the good imagination.”

Aside from the embellishments, there were some indistinct changes between the first and second assembly. Minor adjustments such as, the chamber choir sang a different song.

Lunchtime Activity Commissioner Jacob Segal said, “I think for the second [assembly] it hopefully will be better since we know what we’ve done and will be able to improve on it.”

Owens also added, “[There] seems to be a lot of dead time in between the performances, with the guys running around and talking, only marginally keeping it alive. If they set up faster, it could be a little more smoother.”

All things considered, the homecoming assembly was a success. Students left the event smiling from ear to ear.