NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Conway and North Myrtle Beach high faced off Friday night in front of a ‘wild crowd.’
Pan across that crowd and find students in the North Myrtle Beach student section resembling animals- zebras, cheetahs and more.
That’s thanks to the Blue Crew- a newly- official club at the high school that is focusing on building spirit in the community.
“It just shows support overall for our school,” student leader Zeta Sharp said. She’s a senior at North Myrtle. “Just to basically show we have a good school and we have a lot of good students with a lot of school spirit.”
Fellow student leader Colton Kingston agreed.
“This is our first home football game. We’re really just trying to set the mood for the rest of the year. Trying to get off with a good start.”
The group was posted by a white pickup truck ahead of Friday’s game, offering fellow students a quick paint job so they could fit in with the animal theme.
“The theme is animal and safari, so we’re painting some people to be like zebras and things like that,” Sharp said. “It’s basically just to get more people involved in sporting events. Not only football. To get more people involved and to show support.”
The group will have meetings this year to decide the themes of sporting events and to coordinate student involvement.
“We always called it the Blue Crew,” Colton Kingston, another leader of the group, said. “It really just died down a bit. So this year we tried to actually make it something.”
And they certainly have.
“This week, during lunches, (we were) trying to get some names, recruit some kids,” Allison Bird began. She’s an athletic trainer at the school, and faculty advisor to the club. “And by the end of it we had 285 names signed up. And we still have kids coming to me wanting to sign up.”
The group provides a way for students to connect with the community. Through both the good, and the bad.
“LLV. Long live Vonte,” Kingston read off his arm. He and several others had the three letters painted on them. “His name was Lavonte Stanley. He passed away last night. he wrecked. He graduated from our school a few years back and it’s just in remembrance of him.”
