In a pep rally, the sounds of loud music and students cheering and screaming fill the room. This can only mean one thing: the Highsteppers are performing.

Everyone watches the high steppers dance, but no one really knows what happens behind-the-scenes. Behind-the-scenes, the Highsteppers spend a ridiculous amount of time practicing their dance routines. Sophomore Jada Caldwell describes how the dancers prepare for pep rallies during the summer and in the school year.

“For pep rallies, we learn our dances during the summer,” Caldwell said. “Then the week of the pep rally we have to relearn it at home. About three to two days before the pep rally we have to tryout for the dance to see who’s ready to perform it for the pep rally.”

Along with practicing dance routines, Highsteppers have to balance the amount of time they spend doing homework, socializing, etc. Sometimes this can be a challenge, according to Caldwell.

“Some struggles Highsteppers go through would be balancing working on dancing, schools, and friendships,” Caldwell said.

Captains have different types of struggles. Senior Taylor Kinnard is the captain of the Highsteppers. As a captain, she has numerous responsibilities which require a lot of time and effort.

“Captain has to be able to go above and beyond,” drill team director Cami Cole said. “They have to work in and out of practice, make sure everybody’s aware of what’s going on; they contact their squad if needed; they make sure the officers are aware of what’s going on; they clean and polish routines; they blow the whistle for girls to get on and off, so there’s a lot a captain has to do.”

Kinnard herself admits that being a captain is a lot of work. However, she also describes other challenges that come along with being a captain.

“To be a Highsteppers captain means putting in a ton of extra work, forming a close trusting relationship with the directors, and knowing where to draw the line between a leader and a friend,” Kinnard said. “It was probably the biggest challenge of high school for me, but also the most rewarding.”

Even before becoming a captain, Kinnard went through personal struggles such as finding her self confidence.

“One of the biggest struggles I’ve been through is finding my confidence; when you’re around so many girls it’s easy to compare yourself as far as dancing ability or image or leadership ability, and it was hard to break out of that and get my confidence back,” Kinnard said.

Aside from all types of struggles, Kinnard managed to be a great captain according to Cole.

“She was an exceptional captain; she went above and beyond and she was probably the most consistent,” Cole said.