In an effort to raise money for their program, the LT poms team taught children from the community a dance routine in their annual fall Peppy Primary fundraiser. 

“I thought that it was really cool how these nine year olds cared so much about dance and wanted to learn,” varsity poms member Hallie Olenec ‘24 said. 

On Sept. 16 the poms team met in the SC field house to learn the dance. The following day- Friday, Sept. 17- the team taught 150 kids the dance and performed it before the varsity football game on Bennett Field. 

“We had a much higher number of participants this year,” JV poms coach Dana Fry said. “We aren’t sure why there was such an influx of participants compared to years prior. We even ended up having to turn people away who wanted to register at the last minute.”

Due to COVID-19 this fundraiser was not able to fully happen last year. In order to limit contact, the fundraiser was instead held in a video format. 

“We have many participants who look forward to this fundraiser every year, so we were disappointed that we couldn’t do it [in the normal way] last year,” Fry said. “This is a special poms tradition that has been happening for almost 20 years.” 

Another change that happened this year was the performance being before the varsity game instead of during the halftime show of the JV game. 

“I loved that they performed before the varsity game,” LT teacher and mother of Peppy Primary participants Anna Meyers said. “I thought that was awesome.” 

This fundraiser aims to raise money for the poms team, but it also focuses on bringing students of LT and members of the community together. 

“I think that this is a really great opportunity for my students to choose to be leaders,” Meyers said.  “It is also a really great opportunity for my own kids to learn from my students, it’s twofold.” 

All of the profits that this fundraiser makes go directly to the poms team. The funds raised will cover expenses including costumes, music, choreographers, and transportation. 

 “This is also a fundraiser that involves the pomers doing what they love and bringing that to our community in a big way,” Fry said. “It is also a great way to get younger community members to the school and see high school events.”