Faculty Follies: Fun for Everyone

A Wonderful Night for Everyone to Make Jokes and let Loose

Courtney Langstrom

School is not a joyous experience for any student’s, but when Faculty Follies rolls around you want to be on campus. Faculty Follies has been a tradition here at Rocklin High School for eight years. It’s a night for teachers to loosen up for a good cause. The event raises funds for Rocklin High School college scholarships and is a great send off after four years of hard work.

This year’s show opened with a hilarious video titled “What Teachers Actually Want to Say to Students”. When a student complained to a teacher about their grade or their phone being taken away, the teachers hit back with Bob Marley’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy” and Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ “Give It Away”. There also was an appearance by Follies veteran Mr. Ryan O’Donnell, a past teacher, where multiple seniors didn’t recognize him and sang “Who Are You” by The Who.

The show was hosted by Mr. Casey Nichols (journalism teacher and adviser to the yearbook) and Mrs. Taudine Andrew (culinary teacher and FHA-HERO organizer). They kept the pace of the Follies smooth while also keeping the crowd entertained with clever jokes and gave a warm welcome to the incredible performance of the RHS teachers.

Next, was a strange, yet endearing performance of PPAP complete with parody dance from multiple teachers. Following this was a game show produced by the Social Studies department that pitted freshmen against seniors on their knowledge of what goes down on campus. As a senior, I have to say these jokes were right on the nose.

Then the RHS ladies gave their version of carpool karaoke singing “Girls Just Wanna have Fun” and “Let It Go”. And, well, James Corden has nothing on the women at RHS.

After the pain in my side subsided from laughing so hard, Mr. Ryan Spears and Mr. O’Donnell came back with another game show, but this time with real contestants and real consequences. Simply titled “Reward or Punishment”, the questions tested our knowledge of teacher’s ages, but also the amount of pages in “To Kill a Mockingbird” (281 if you wanted to know). In the end, the three closest answers got their teacher’s rewards, while the odd man out was left to get punished. Basically, it left some with candy and other’s covered in egg.

Soon after, came an almost tear jerking ballet performance by Craig Waechtler and Matt Bumgardner of the Math department. All I’ll tell you is that it had tutus, a beachball and the crowd on the edge of their seats.

The Language Arts department came out with a clever play on the MC Hammer classic “I Like Big Books”. DJ Hurrianko schooled us all with knowledge that books really are lit.

The Hip-Hop Ladies of RHS were back at it again with their pink outfits and synchronized dance. To say these women crushed it is an understatement. They absolutely slayed the scene and, to be quite honest, the RHS dance team, though incredible, doesn’t have anything on these ladies.

The Math department came back out to end the show with a synchronized dance as glow-stick people. The (neon) highlight of the performance was when one figure seemed to fly as R. Kelly’s “I believe I Can Fly” played.

In the end the Faculty Follies was a night to connect the students and staff in laughter and it did just that. Everyone in the show performance was incredible and spread joy throughout the campus, it also left the freshman very confused. Thank you faculty and staff for a great night.