Red and White Night is a Rancocas Valley tradition that has taken place for over 25 years. RAWN, as it is more commonly known, pins the school against each other in friendly competition while uniting everyone through school spirit. The student body and faculty is split into two teams: if your last name starts with A-K, you are on the Red Team, and if your last name starts with L-Z, you are on the White Team, as red and white are our school colors.
Each team gains points throughout the month of March by playing I/E games, painting posters and decorating the gym, and competing in events the night of RAWN, which is March 15 this year. Each team is given a theme to adhere to when decorating their side of the gymnasium; this year, the theme is Horror (Red) vs. Comedy (White).
Each year, students coming from each team interview to become team captains. These captains are the ones who plan out the night of RAWN logistically, spearhead poster painting, skit production, and game planning and overall are the RAWN experts given their enthusiasm, dedication to the event and their organization skills.
This year, between the two teams, there are a total of 21 captains that collaborate as a “pink team” to make the events leading up to the event and the night itself run smoothly.
Returning white team captain and junior Tess Phillips explained why the event was important to her and why she decided to interview for a captain position for the second year in a row.
“I wanted to become a RAWN Captain to share my love for RAWN with people who may not know about it, and to ensure that everyone has a safe and fun time at the night,” she said.
First-year red team captain and freshman Niyati Gupta said that RAWN is going to be a “very fun and exciting experience” and that she wanted to become a part of RAWN in order to get herself involved and other freshmen like her in the RV spirit, as it is her class’ first real RAWN experience.
One of the challenges RAWN faces this year is its early date; traditionally, RAWN is held the last Friday in March. Now that RAWN is on March 15, it lies right in the heart of a student’s busy season, between spring sports, senior trip and many other extracurricular events. However, this does not deter any of the captains, rather it motivates them.
“I don’t want to reveal everything, but all of us captains have really amazing and out-of-the box ideas to help promote the event,” said junior red team captain Terrance Clark. “RAWN is going to be a little bit different this year, so I wanted to sort of throw my hat in the ring and see if I would be able to help make it as fun as possible. We want it to be constantly in peoples heads that this is a fun event that they won’t want to miss.”
The captains this year have been working incredibly hard to put their heart and soul into making RAWN 2024 the best it can be. Every single captain interviewed described working as a captain to be very rewarding, especially when it comes to seeing the school participate in something they worked tirelessly to put together.
“If you aren’t there, you are going to feel major FOMO,” said Clark.
RAWN poster painting, the first major event, will take place every Tuesday and Wednesday from 4:00-7:30 until the end of February. If you want to embrace school spirit, meet new people, and get involved in an age-old RV tradition, make sure to be there and meet your captains in person!
