Special kids boost spirits at Mini-Pink Out pep rally
BY DAN MORAN dmoran@stmedianetwork.com January 26, 2012 5:38PM
GRAYSLAKE Thursday Jan 26 2012 Waukegan High School students (closest left to right,) 16-year-old Juan Garcia, 17-year-old Christopher Ortez, 18-year-old Cornell Fort, 16-year-old Alexandro Teran and 16-year-old Cristian Lara help out 3-year-old Alex Soto as he tries out the drums. Waukegan High School cheerleaders, members of the pom pom squad, Jr. ROTC drill team, pep band and basketball team performed during a pep rally for students at Laremont School.| Michelle LaVigne~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 27, 2012 1:58AM
GAGES LAKE — The brass-heavy sounds of “The Impression That I Get” by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones boomed off the walls of the Laremont School gymnasium Thursday morning, serving as the Waukegan High School pep band’s finale for the second annual Mini-Pink Out pep rally before a crowd of more than 100 students and their instructors.
“That’s probably one of my favorite songs. The crowd always gets into it,” sophomore trumpet player Cameron Crombie said afterward. “And I usually don’t like playing in gymnasiums because of the acoustics, but this is a really good gym.”
That same positive vibe resonated through the overall experience, as band members, basketball players, cheer squads and other students from Waukegan shared a morning with students from the Special Education District of Lake County (SEDOL).
The Laremont rally is now an integral part of Waukegan High’s main Pink Out program, which raises funds for breast-cancer research through T-shirt sales. The shirts, described as a brighter tone than the 2011 model, are designed to be worn by all possible Dog Pound spectators — thus producing a pink version of a wintertime “white out” — at tonight’s Central Suburban League basketball game against Evanston.
Bulldog Coach Ron Ashlaw thanked the SEDOL students for hosting his team, saying the visit provided a boost during a season in which “we’re really starting to believe in ourselves.”
“I say this very sincerely,” Ashlaw said. “Of all the things our program has done over the past five years, this is at the top of the list. It really means a lot to us.”
Jim Ross, a vocational facilitator at Laremont and father of 2010-11 Bulldog cager Alben Ross, helped set up the visit with his fellow members of the Waukegan Basketball Parents Association. He said many of the SEDOL students, who range in age from 3 to 21, were at last February’s Mini-Pink Out rally and connected easily with Thursday’s experience.
“To me, this is my favorite day of the year,” Ross said. “What I’m really impressed with is that it’s our second year, and the (Waukegan) kids have been bugging us — ‘When are we going back to Laremont? We want to see the kids.’ It’s beautiful. Just a lot of fun.”
The rally began with a set by the pep band, including such standards as “Louie, Louie” by the Kingsmen and the more recent “I Gotta Feeling” by The Black Eyed Peas, and continued with performances by both the poms squad and cheerleaders. Prior to a demonstration by the JROTC Drill Team, the Bulldogs hit the floor, putting on a variation of the NBA All-Star Weekend’s dunk contest.
Before the guests headed back to Waukegan, the gym buzzed with conversation as students from both schools mixed together. Basketball players lifted SEDOL students high enough to dunk on their own, and drummers offered impromptu lessons. As the room assembled for a group photo, Ross made a point to thank Illinois Central School Bus Co. for donating transportation for the morning.
“They sent us four free buses — without them, I really don’t know if we could do this,” Ross said. “They’re the ones that make this happen, and my hat’s really off to them.”
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