As freshmen, many of us were confused leading up to and at the Homecoming assembly. What is Greased Lightning, and why are people here so excited about it?

The Greased Lightning Dance at Homecoming, has been at Liberty longer than most teachers. The first photographic evidence of it is in the 1981 yearbook, when the girls wore jeans and white t-shirts. Nowadays, they wear poodle skirts in order to maintain the appearance of being in the 50’s.

The dance looked a little different then than it does now–the cheerleaders didn’t dance with boys until Principal’s Secretary and new Cheer advisor Kathy Schroeder started coaching the cheer team in 1988. Instead, the cheerleaders danced with former cheerleaders. The idea of the 50’s with the poodle skirts has remained the same, though.

“By the time I was a senior, having former cheerleaders come back was falling out of style because students couldn’t come back from college as easily. Sometime soon after, Ms. Schroeder shifted it to young men. She’s the one who made the shift, and that was to give it more depth and interest. The student body responded well to it, and it’s stayed the same ever since,” Michelle Munson said in regard to the dance.

Another one of Liberty’s most beloved, unexplained traditions also sprung from the minds of students. Bod Squad was started by the senior class of 1988. The class was really high-energy, according to Munson, so she wasn’t surprised when they started the activity.
“The senior boys decided that they wanted to do this drill “spoof”, because they had friends on the drill team,” Munson said.

The boys dressed up similarly to now, with white t-shirts and headbands. The tutus, however, are a recent development. Their routines have been different every year, but they all focus around doing drill moves to music.

The class of 1988 did their routine twice in one year, instead of just at the Homecoming Assembly. Bod Squad stopped for a couple years after their 1988 debut, and was not restarted until 1991. The tradition has continued on proudly since then, more boys joining with each following year. Since 1988, Bod Squad has been one of Liberty’s most cherished traditions.