The Battle of the Classes is back and better than ever as seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen go head-to-head in the fight for victory. Here’s what you might’ve missed:
Before the night even began, the sophomores started off in the lead, having won Find the Patriot, which contains each team using clues to figure who the Patriot, or faculty within the building, is. This year, the sophomores found the Patriot to be Mr. Mopsick within the first day of the event. They also gained points from getting second place at having the most Homecoming attendance and finishing third place in the Costume Gallery. They were followed by the seniors in second place, the juniors in third place, and the freshman in fourth place.
Once BOTC actually came, the night began with several relays and games between all four teams. But, before they could happen, each team was introduced to the crowd of students spanning all four grades. As each team ran into the school gymnasium, they waved flags, did flips, and ran excitingly across the room, ramping up the audience.
After introductions came the first event known as the Scooter Race. During this challenge, competitors had to travel back and forth to the other side of the gym while sitting on a scooter, having to maneuver in different ways during each round. The Seniors claimed the victory for this challenge, with Juniors coming in at a close second place.
Next up was the Egg Toss. A very tricky feat, team members had to throw an egg to each other without it breaking, getting farther and farther apart with each throw. After throwing an egg across half the gym floor, sophomores took the win, redeeming themselves after coming in fourth during the Scooter Race.
Following the Egg Toss was Dance Moves. Participants were dancing in a tightly packed circle and when the music stopped, a specific pose was yelled out. Team members were expected to find a partner from their team and complete this pose together. The last partnership to strike the pose was eliminated. This continued until there were only two people left from one team remaining. The Juniors won this challenge, and the reaction from their student section was priceless. As cheers and screams echoed around the gymnasium, accompanied by a few ‘boos’ from other grade levels, it seemed as though the gym had come alive in true BOTC fashion.
The next challenge was Junkyard, where team members had to run across the gym and pick up an object from their pile, which consisted of things such as a football, hula hoop, baseball glove, and more, and bring it back to the next person in line. Each member of the team only went once, and each time they had to carry back an additional object; meaning the final person for each team had to carry the most objects at once while running to the other side of the gym and back. The stakes were high on this challenge, with everyone on the edge of their seats. The Juniors were very close to winning, but unfortunately they dropped some objects during the final round, allowing the Seniors to sneak by and take the win.
The following competition was a round of Trivia, where each grade had to put their minds and teamwork to the test. However, there was one thing that made this event different from the rest: each team was able to work with the rest of their grade in the student section, and those students could even use the internet as an assistant. During trivia, each group would be given a question by a staff member on a piece of paper, which they could then bring back to their team and the rest of their grade. The first team to answer all of their questions correctly would win, and the Seniors did just that, bringing them another success.
Next came a thrilling game of Tug of War. There was both a Girl’s Tug of War and a Boy’s Tug of War, with the freshmen going against the seniors and the sophomores against the freshman. After these first two rounds, the winners went against each other to crown a final Tug of War champion. The pressure was on during this challenge, with every grade giving it their all. At the end, the Seniors took yet another victory in both the girl’s and boy’s tug of wars.
Following the Tug of War was the Balloon Pop. To win, each team had to pop all of their balloons before the other teams by sitting on them, with one player going at a time. The balloons were set up on the other side of the gym in each team’s designated colors: green for the seniors, orange for the juniors, white for sophomores, and red for freshmen. Participants had to run across the gym, pop a balloon, and run back so another member of their team could go. This competition was a bit tricky, as some students had trouble popping theirballoons, taking them longer to get back to their teammates. The Juniors took this win, with the Seniors right behind them.
Now, it was time for the most anticipated event of the night: The Lip Sync Battle. Each team had to choreograph their own dance, lip syncing to the songs and performing their hearts out.
First up were the Freshmen. They took a very patriotic turn with their dance, even featuring team members dressed as a bald eagle and Uncle Sam, and at one point reenacting a good old American football game. The girls wowed the crowd by performing the Dallas Cowboys’ routine to AC/DC’s Thunderstruck. After not being able to win any challenges so far, the freshmen really gave it their all, and while they gave an amazing performance, their dance came in fourth place.
Second were the Sophomores. They opened their performance with a chilling dance to Hoist the Colours, followed by Insane in the Membrane; definitely an impressive kickoff. Both the girls and the boys danced to Beyoncé’s Crazy in Love, and at one point acted out throwing the Senior, Junior, and Freshmen BOTC shirts in the trash, asserting their superiority. The sophomore boys surprised the crowd with a hilarious performance to Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Want To Have Fun. Towards the end, two team members performed the famous handshake from The Parent Trap, bringing joy to the crowd. The part of the performance that received the most applause was the boys’ hilarious rendition of actor Tom Holland’s performance to Rihanna’s Umbrella. Despite the quality routine, Sophomores came in third place for this challenge.
Moving on to the upperclassmen, the Juniors opened their performance by dancing to Kanye West’s Carnival, stunning the crowd with their stunts and flips, which continued throughout the entire act. Afterward, the boys perfectly delivered Kordell from Love Island’s famous suitcase-spin, bringing out smiles in the spectators. The crowd was especially amused when the juniors acted out CPR while playing audio from The Office and the Bee Gees hit Stayin’ Alive. Soon after, the team performed a dance to the song Footloose, from a classic movie that was familiar to all viewers. Towards the end, the boys danced to Madonna’s Material Girl and Nelly Furtado’s Maneater, completely stealing the show. Finally, the team wrapped up their performance with a brief dance to I Wanna Dance with Somebody and switched to the Looney Toons theme music. As they put on their DIY Looney Tunes character heads that they had made for the Costume Gallery, they gave a final group pose to the roaring audience of fellow peers. The juniors held nothing back, which paid off as they earned first place in this challenge.
Last, but certainly not least, were the Seniors. They opened to Black Eyed Peas’ Let’s Get It Started, which really hyped up the crowd. Next, the team hoisted one member into the air, where she waved a green flag and lip-synced to Drake’s Started From the Bottom, symbolizing the powerful transformation they had made from freshman to senior year. One of the highlights of the performance was a rendition of Britney Spears’ Toxic, mimicking her performance of I’m A Slave 4 U by having a team member holding a stuffed snake. Similarly to the freshmen, the seniors also performed the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders’ Thunderstruck choreography. Afterwards, they quoted Leah Kateb from Love Island saying “And now, you’re sending three home!” while gesturing to three senior team members each holding either a sophomore, freshmen, or junior BOTC-colored shirt. Nearing the end of the dance, senior Grant Feldman, sat in a makeshift barber’s chair, where another team member actually shaved some of his hair off, shocking the crowd, and displaying their dedication to BOTC. To wrap up their extraordinary perfo
rmance, each team member walked to Bruno Mars’ Count on Me, delivering a heartfelt tribute as they displayed their high school memorabilia—varsity jackets, sports jerseys, and more—symbolizing their journey through high school that they are about to complete. Afterwards, while the judges were counting up scores, Feldman even shaved off even more of his hair, showing his true commitment to Battle of the Classes. Despite their best efforts, the seniors came in second place for the Lip Sync Battle.
Tensions were high as each team waited to hear the final verdict: who had won the lip sync and who had won the entire thing? While some teams believed they’d win more than others, every grade was congratulating their teams and appreciating how they put everything they had into this competition. After a few minutes of deliberating, the scores for the Lip Sync Battle were announced: fourth place went to freshmen, third to sophomore, second to seniors, and first to juniors. When this was announced, the entire junior class erupted in cheers, jumping up
and down, hugging each other and high-fiving their team. Even though they knew this was no guarantee that they had won overall, they were extremely proud of this victory. Right after this announcement, the judges read out the final scores overall. The freshmen had 17 points, sophomores 26, juniors 36, and seniors 40. The class of 2025 had won the Battle of the Classes! The senior class was ecstatic. They were screaming, cheering, hugging, and all had huge smiles on their faces. I can imagine that this was an amazing way to mark their final year at Freehold Township High School. Despite a senior victory, every grade was proud of themselves for their accomplishments. It was a great night, with every team going the extra mile in each game and in their performances. Congratulations to the Senior Class of 2025, and to all of the other grades, good luck next year!
