Friday night lights return and with it comes, arguably, the best student section in North Carolina, West Wackos. The Titans are back and better than ever, ready to be loud and proud at various Titan sporting events. Between the chants, themes, keeping the student population informed on events, and updating the social media accounts, what ensures that our school keeps its pride and stays supportive of all sports?
This year’s leaders, seniors Anna Frucht, Patrick Showers, and David Atkins, do most of the heavy lifting.
“I did not expect to be a leader, but I was very excited when Mrs. Powell first spoke to me about the idea because I have always loved going to football games and supporting all of our athletic teams,” Frucht said.
West Wackos is mostly run and organized by students who have great school spirit and expect their fellow peers to show the same enthusiasm about the school.
“We have cheers that involve everyone and we just all get hype,” Showers said.
“I do everything I can to make sure we are the loudest, rowdiest, craziest student section in NC. I scream until I have a headache, jump with my fellow peers, and make everyone feel welcome in my section,” Atkins said.
The leaders aren’t the only ones doing everything they can to ensure everyone is doing their part. Students are excited to make the best of their Friday night lights experience since they missed out on so much due to COVID.
“It’s so much more fun than just sitting in the stands! It’s so nice to see people and be able to dress up for different themed games,” sophomore Marissa Vernon said.
“I feel like more people are excited to come since they couldn’t last year,” senior Steven Lawson said.
“You get to see everyone in your grade and get to socialize outside of the class setting,” senior Holy Mansour said.
The responsibilities of the leaders don’t end at being rowdy for football games. Being the largest high school in Forsyth County with a student population of more than 2,000 students, they have the challenge of getting students more involved and active in supporting all teams.
“To get students more involved in all of our athletics, I plan to post more about other sports, not just football. We also plan to try to announce athletic games in the morning announcements so that people will be more aware of the upcoming games,” Frucht said.
Any and all students can be West Wackos, but certain extra-spirited students receive the title of ‘leader’ from the sponsors, science teacher Brent Maratta and Assistant Principal Rhonda Powell.
“You have to show an interest, you come and say, ‘Hey I’m really excited about this, and we kind of do an informal interview about your excitement-what makes you excited about supporting sports at West Forsyth, and not just football but basketball, softball, volleyball and all that other stuff and then we go from there,” Powell said.
“We’ll have the leaders come in, they’ll come up with the ideas and they talk with their friends and are able to choose what they want to do, you know themes and stuff like that. We steer them in the direction of whether their decisions are appropriate and what would be the most fun for the student body,” Maratta said.
West Wackos is more than just a student section. The pride and school spirit displayed at games go to show the community and unity of our school along with the honor of being a Titan. Follow their social media accounts on Twitter @westwackoss and Instagram @west_wackos, to stay in the loop for games and other events.