One key factor in the Friday night football dynamic is the student section. At home games, these students can be found in “Section B” of the Jacket’s nest, cheering on the team. The student section is a spirited group from the student body dressed head-to-toe in a selected theme for the week screaming chants, doing push-ups for every touchdown, and possibly talking some light-hearted “smack talk” towards the other team.
The student section is led by the school’s Bod Squad and Paint Squad.
According to Hayden Carter, a senior and member of the Bod Squad, the Bod Squad is, “a select group of boys voted in by the previous class to represent the student section. We hype everyone up before and during the game.”
In turn, there is the paint squad, which, “is 10 girls that paint the bod squad before the football games. Usually we supply paint, brushes, and clean after the tailgate so the boys can get down to the student section,” says McKenzie Love, senior and member of Paint Squad.
Love says, “Every game we all decide how we’re going to paint the bod squad. Based on the theme (colors, design, etc.) we get a lot of paint and props to make each game interesting, figure out what boys are painting up each week because some people can’t sometimes because of their schedules, assign them a letter, then the paint squad decides what boy they’re going to paint for that week.”
The student body does get a say in what the themes are for football games, using a poll on the student section’s twitter page where students can vote for whichever theme they want most.
Being in the student section for some is a very memorable part of the high school experience. Peyton Zuehlke, a senior, says, “the best thing about being in the student section is the atmosphere and seeing everyone come together to support our school.”
Love says, “I think that the bod squad and paint squad this year has done a very good job at making the student section fun compared to the past years. We try to get everyone as excited and involved as we can without leaving anyone out. We also try to bring props and stuff like that to make each game different and interesting. I’ll be so sad when FNL is over because it’s definitely something I look forward to at the end of the week and I think most people would agree!”
The student section has not yet planned how they will be supporting the Jackets this basketball season.
The North Augusta High Student Section getting hype at one of their school's football games.
Picture Credit: CS Productions
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