After the bus trip to the state basketball game on Wednesday, March 9, I am disappointed in my fellow Cougars. 

The pep bus was boarded at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday morning under normal circumstances, students were excited to cheer on the Cougars. As a cheerleader I was grateful to hitch a ride to state with my fellow classmates on the charter bus provided. 

After the victory vs. Waukee Northwest, the Cougars moved on to play Thursday night against Ames. A pep bus was already scheduled. However, students chose to misbehave on the way home and that transportation option was canceled. 

Kennedy Activities Twitter tweeted, “We will NOT be providing a pep bus over to the game today [Thursday]. We are sending an email out to families explaining this decision…Sorry, we need to be better if we are going to provide pep buses.”

Kennedy Principal Jason Kline explained on the March 10 announcements and Twitter why the administration came to this decision.

“[Canceling the pep buses] is extremely unfortunate but necessary.  Partially this is due to behavior, and partially this is due to students/parents making alternative arrangements for [the] return trip, not telling anyone, and the chaperones panicking because students are missing. We have to do better.”

The opportunity to attend the state basketball game was just that, an opportunity for us. It was our chance to cheer for our Cougars and show the state our school spirit. Instead we managed to get our pep bus for the next day canceled. This was the first time in almost two years that students had the chance to do something outside of school, since activities this year such as pep assemblies and school dances have been canceled or postponed. 

Cougars, even though we have taken a break from a “regular” school, we need to remember our reputation as a Cougar is important. I want to be able to walk anywhere in our city and hold my head high, while wearing my green and gold. 

We can do better.