If you went to Abilene High, you're probably saying "There's so much more that six things!" Yes, there are, and if I included all that is special about this school, this would be a book, therefore I chose 6 distinct things that make Abilene High stand out.
(Remember, we're thinking positive...)
1. The pep-rallies caused riots
Abilene High has always been known for being highly competitive in sports, but it was on Friday mornings at 8:00 a.m. where the real competition took place: the fight for the Spirit Stick. This prestigious award (a cardboard stick with fancy ribbon) was only given the class who could chant the Eagles chant the loudest. Everyone was a sore loser (anytime the freshmen won, everyone booed, sorry guys) and the rallies usually ended in the winning class rubbing it in everyone else's faces until the next week.
2. Blackout Week was basically a holiday
Ahh, the annual "Cross-Town Showdown Football Game" between Abilene High and Cooper. This was the game above all games. Who cares about play-off's! The game to be at was this one. Who even knows how the rivalry begin and frankly, I don't think anyone even cares, and that's fine with me.
Blackout week was the week leading up to this special game, and both schools would have different dress up days every day ending with a bang at the Blackout Pep-rally (AHS) and the White-Out Pep-rally (CHS). This AHS pep-rally was the king of all pep-rallies. Alumni and even people from other schools would come from all over Abilene just to be at this 30-minute event. If you didn't show up before 4:00 a.m. to line up outside the gym, good luck finding a decent spot.
Oh, and did I mention it was in the dark? It usually begins with a science teacher lighting huge balloons filled with Hydrogen on fire resulting in an insanely loud explosion while simultaneously turning of each set of lights with each explosion.
Yeah, I know. Intense.
Thousands of glow sticks everywhere, fluorescent dance routines, and screaming so loud your ears popped, all added up to a pure and insane amount of school spirit.
Here's a video of "The Beat" at the Black Out Cooper Pep-Rally from 2011:
Fair warning: I would turn the volume a little down around 2:40ish.
If you can ever make it to one of these pep-rallies, I highly suggest it. Definitely worth it.
Unless you hate the dark and loud noises, then I say do it anyways.
3. Homecoming involved a lot of ribbon
Apparently, Texas is the only state that does "mum's." I guess we just have to much spirit to communicate verbally. I don't know about other schools, but it was basically a competition to have the largest or most mums in the whole school. Teachers didn't even need a bell to tell them class was out because of the sea of bells that could be head descending from the stairwells and halls. Often, you couldn't even tell if kids were wearing clothes because of the amount of ribbon engulfing their bodies.
I can still point out the holes in my shirts where my safety pins made their mark. #relatable
4. The annual musical was a pretty big deal
In movies, High School was often seen as the place to get beat up if you ever did anything involving the Fine Arts, but in Abilene this program is actually a pretty big deal. If you ha some sort of singing, acting, dancing, or instrument-playing ability, you were set. Every year, Abilene has a musical, and every four years Abilene High and Cooper combine for an even larger one.
This thing took up a lot of space, and I mean a lot of time. Tryouts alone were several weeks long with singing, acting, and 2 hour dance auditions, plus callbacks. Prep would begin in September/October with rehearsals beginning in November and the musical wasn't even until late January. Performances would take place over four days with four shows. And soon after the last show on Sunday, Freeman and Mouat would already be planning the next one.
Yeah, tiring, but sooo worth it.
5. "The Beat" is A-High's anthem
Every school has a drum line, and every school has a school song, but does every school have "The Beat?" This is basically the "hype-man" of the football team. The drum-line would come out, either on the field or at a pep-rally, and begin A-High's distinguishable anthem followed by different beats, screaming, and mosh-ing (not allowed but couldn't go without). It's pretty hard to explain unless you can see it in action. But everyone knows, as soon as the first three beats are played, its about to go down.
Here is a video of "The Beat" at a football game in 2006:
Awesome...
6. "It's [always] a Great Day to Be an Eagle."
At the end of the day, all the football games, dress-up days, and E-Power tokens, cannot even compare to the friendships and relationships made. Abilene High has had it's fair share of drama, we all have, but its those very things that grow us closer together as individuals and as a classmates. 2 years later and I still find myself reminiscing about the days we ordered pizza to the school, participated in flash mobs, or sang the school song for the last time.
While we will all move on to bigger and better stories, the Eagle nation will live on. In the wise words of past principal Terry Bull, it was and will always be a great day to be an Eagle.
