Ahead of the playoff football game against Hillside, the Gibbons Green Army account posted a flyer donning the words “Game Day” with a photo of a player in front of many different college logos. This post indicated that the games’ theme was “college out” in honor of the recent signing day. A common belief is that the ones planning these themes are educators or the teams themselves.
With the help of educator Megan O’Neill, a small group of students puts these events together to invite students for their support and make these events engaging for all. These are the Green Army Generals.
The Generals are made up of seniors Bryce Fitzsimmons, Emily Baker, Dri Diotaiuti Veloso, Julia Torres, juniors Braxton Burge, Chloe Castiller, Owen Combs, Hailey Mueller, Ty Lange, and sophomore Walker Thomas.
The Generals are responsible for so much more than sending an Instagram post out. They support all of the sports teams, encouraging attendance for them, organizing themes, and leading cheers for these events.
Not everyone is fit to be a General and that is why they conduct an interview process called “group processing.” Group processing can also get you different roles within the Green Army.
“Group processing is basically a large group interview and we look for traits of a Green Army General like the ability to lead, willingness to push your classmates to cheer, to lead cheers, and overall school spirit,” said Burge.
The Generals don’t only lead when everyone is watching, but they also lead when it’s just themselves. After every sporting event where they are present, the Generals stay after to clean up the facilities to ensure a cleaner environment than when the game started.
Burge believes that being a General now, will help him later down the road.
“I think being a General has pushed me to become a stronger leader and has given me the opportunities to deal with tricky leadership situations and also given opportunities to improve public speaking,” Burge said.
Being a General may be something that looks good on a college or job application, but the better use of it is to become a better leader in all facets of life.
Generals can also take pride in knowing that a part of the reason that the crowd is getting loud and interested in the game is because of them. Burge said that his favorite part of being a General is hearing his fellow classmates getting loud and excited at a big game.
Being a General is not only an honor to self, but it is also an honor to the school as you are becoming a leader of the future right here in high school.
