Seeing Park’s student body come together was exhilarating for sophomore Mae Turman. She watched as her classmates celebrated the return to school and expressed Park pride.

“It’s exciting because we have all the grades gathered in the stadium,” Turman said. “It’s actually pretty fun to get surrounded by the community.”

On the second day of the 2021-22 school year, Park’s Student Council organized a pep fest at the stadium Sept. 9. The event consisted of a race and a field goal competition.

Although the choice to hold the pep fest at the stadium sparked some concerns for her, senior and student council member Katrina Nevinski said she felt proud in reuniting her classmates.

“It was a little stressful doing it on the field because we’ve never done that before, but I feel like it was really rewarding to see everybody come together and have some school spirit,” Nevinski said.

Feeling enthusiastic about how the event went, freshman Thelones Holmberg said he is looking forward to his first year at a Park district school.

“It was so awesome. I felt inspired by the school spirit, and it really changed the way I look at St. Louis Park,” Holmberg said.

Although she enjoyed herself at the assembly, senior and Student Council member Grace Fahey said there were a variety of technical difficulties.

“It was fun, but it was really chaotic,” Fahey said. “The microphone system was really weird so anybody who wanted to talk had to go upstairs to the microphone booth and that was unplanned.”

For freshman Mila Crowe, the pep fest was an entertaining event, as it allowed her to see her classmates participate in the various activities.

“It was definitely fun. It was fun to hang out with my friends in the morning,” Crowe said. “It was really entertaining to see all of the events.”