mahoney with mascot

Dressed in costumes and gleaming with smiles as upbeat music blared in the background, Colleyville Middle School’s students quickly made their way to find seats at their grade level’s designated areas in the school’s gym.

In just a few minutes the lights would go out and CMS cheerleaders wearing glow-in-the-dark outfits would kick off the show.

What was it that students were so excited to see?

It was the school’s annual Black Out Pep Rally.

“Students love days like this,” said Principal David Arencibia. “It creates that feeling that not only do they want to come to school, they want to be at school.”

The decibel levels of students’ cheering increased levels as the video screen lit up to show a video of Disney star Mallory James Mahony. To everyone’s surprise, Mahony stepped out from behind a CMS banner held up by the cheerleaders.

“I am part of GCISD. I’m with iUniversity Prep so I am part of the school district and I love getting to come to do things like this,” Mahony stated before the rally started. “My message for them is to have fun and keep working hard at school. I love this district.”

Mahony served as the guest host for the event.

Held on Friday, October 28, the event went on to feature their teachers taking the floor to dance Michael Jackson’s iconic Thriller dance.

Students also teamed up with their teachers for a mummy-wrapping contest with spectators cheering for the winning team.

“This blackout pep rally is a tradition that CMS has had for many years and every year, it gets bigger and bigger,” Principal Arencibia added.

He added that he had “never heard of or seen a middle school pep rally like this before,” but for students it likely was one that they would never soon forget, and it likely created another reason why students love coming to school.