EXETER, Pa. — A fanfare welcomed Kenny "The Blenda" Rodriguez to the gym of Wyoming Area Catholic School in Exeter for a school assembly full of fun, tricks, and cheering.
"I'm also talking about staying positive, believing in your goals, achieving your goals. You know, make sure nobody bullies anybody because bullying is not cool. So we're going to talk about all the good things too, aside from just basketball and having a good time," said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez says having a good time is important, especially after the last two years.
"Yeah, like we didn't have to wear masks. We could all sit, we could all cheer. It was really just like a normal thing since the whole pandemic, and I think it's really refreshing after like this whole time," said eighth-grader Lilly Russin.
"We tried to keep everything going as much as we could, but it wasn't normal. So this is normal. This is fun. They were in heaven today," said Wyoming Area Catholic Principal Eileen Rishcoff.
Students of all ages and teachers participated in basketball stunts and games, as the rest participated in the crowd.
"To have them back and laughing and cheering and screaming and having so much fun means the world. It really does," added Rishcoff.
Lilly says, especially for the younger students, this was a big deal.
"Oh yeah, I remember as a little kid, this would have been like the whole big deal. I would have felt like I was in an arena or something," she said. "So for the little kids, this definitely is a special thing. Because for them, like maybe even half of their life has been through the pandemic. So this might be a once-in-a-lifetime. Well, first for them."
Some of the youngsters tell Newswatch 16 this was an event they won't forget any time soon.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube page.