The OZONE cheers on the team against rival, Covington Catholic, on Oct. 3, 2025.Light beams down onto the football field as the clock ticks closer to kickoff. The football players warm up, getting ready to defeat their opponents as the stands begin to fill with rowdy and excited fans. In the final moments before kickoff, the students charge the stadium towards the OZONE, and the stands are brought to life.
The Highlands High School OZONE is an important aspect to support and motivate the athletes. Being respectful and representing the Fort Thomas school district positively is essential when showing support for the football team.
“I think when the fans are all hyped, then it gets the players like even more excited to play the game, and come up to the section and just cheer us on,” OZONE Leader Avery Barber (12) said.
Participation shows pride and positivity in the student section.
“I think dressing up for the themes, being active in any school events like pep rallies, when we do theme weeks for homecoming, participating in those. Wearing your highlands gear all the time.” OZONE Leader Madison Barlow (12) said.
When supporting our athletes in the OZONE, there is a line between having fun while supporting our athletic teams, and being negative. It is possible to cheer without making fun of the opposing team.
“You should always be cheering for our own team, never cheering against the other team or making fun of the other team, I think as long as your cheers are encouraging towards our own team, then that’s fine,” Barlow said.
Barlow talks about how we should be representing our school during Highlands High School sporting events, through cheering and motivating the players. She also tells us what we should do if any issues occur.
“It’s not embarrassing to cheer. If you don’t know the OZONE cheers, you can just kind of follow behind other people, but I always say it’s more embarrassing not to cheer than it is to actually cheer because then you’re singled out even more.”
If students are being immature or disrespectful and disrupting other students or even distracting the players, they can be thrown out of the game or suspended, depending on the intensity of the situation.
“The consequences you can receive could be everything from being thrown out of the game, to getting suspended from school, depending on what you do,” Principal John Darnell said.
The student handbook outlines the consequences a student will face if they don’t abide by the rules.
According to the HHS student handbook, “Examples of disrespectful behavior are walking away, talking back, refusing to identify self properly, rude behavior, and challenging authority that could lead to teacher detention, after school detention, in school suspension, Saturday detention, and out of school suspension.”
Darnell also gave an example of a time this year at one of our football games where a student had to be thrown out of the game due to being distracting and disrupting others.
“We’ve had students who throw bottles, and we catch them, we suspend them, like it’s okay to go and to have a good time, but it’s not okay to do something that’s disruptive.”
Being a part of the OZONE has a great impact on students with the environment and behavior that is put out by others. It gives them an experience that will be memorable to them for a long time.
“I think we’re always doing cheers. We have a specific cheer that we do after first down. We’re always clapping, always cheering, and I think that just always being present is fun,” Barlow said.
