Readers may be familiar with the Franklin Storm Squad as a group often associated with football games or school spirit — usually seen cheering and dressed in coordinating colors at sports games. Yet, many don’t give them or what they do a second thought. Victoria “Vita” Westphal, the president of Storm Squad, explains that there’s a lot more to their mission than the “football fan club” many believe them to be.
According to Storm Squad Vice-President Lilianna “Lili” Magdaleno-Lopez, a lot of people are wrong about Storm Squad — many mistakenly believe it to be only for cheering at the football games, not realizing the role the club takes at all kinds of events around the school. This misconception isn’t just within outsiders either — new members of Storm Squad will often join at the beginning of the year only to leave at the end of football season, shares Magdaleno-Lopez.
Storm Squad is not just about watching football games; it’s about creating a real sense of community, Westphal explains. “Our goal is to make sure our [peers] feel supported by their classmates in any way they want … We like to go all out — but if that’s not something [the group] wants, then we don’t,” she adds. Storm Squad was responsible for the decorations, cheering, and spirit at football games, but also shows more subdued support, like at a recent wrestling match. Westphal shares that since cheering too loud and shouting is against the rules for wrestling and the team didn’t want decorations, Storm Squad instead provided what was wanted, by showing up to more quietly support.
Westphal feels that the most important thing for Storm Squad is to “help [their peers] shine so that the students can see [how their] fellow classmates are [doing] all this work and we should support them.” Magdaleno-Lopez agrees, saying that the purpose of Storm Squad is to support students in their activities.
So far this year, Storm Squad has been present for many football and basketball games, as well as some wrestling matches. Going forward, Westphal is hoping to be at baseball and softball games, Arts Alive, some different choir performances, and more.
While in the past Storm Squad has solely focused on sports, Westphal is hoping to lay the foundations to encourage a fuller approach from Storm Squad for years to come. Though she is graduating, Westphal hopes part of her legacy can be attending different sporting and performing arts events, and even starting entirely new traditions.
“We’ve wanted to have hot chocolate and doughnuts or something in the mornings, or have custom shirts to sell,” Westphal says, regarding future plans she has for the Storm Squad. So far this year, Westphal has expanded Storm Squad’s endeavors to include different games in the main lobby during lunch, and even a dance party with Franklin’s mascot “Benji.”
“[People] were enjoying [the events], [and] that made me happy, just to see people smile at school, especially with everything that’s been going on. Just to bring a little bit of joy back to school is amazing,” Westphal says. “And I know you can’t really ‘force’ joy on people, but that’s why I like to work with people and ask them ‘what [do] you think would make the school more enjoyable to be at?’”
Both Westphal and Magdaleno-Lopez encourage anyone and everyone interested in Storm Squad to attend the meetings and join the club. Westphal says that it is “pretty simple,” and encourages people to just drop into meetings — which are held on Tuesdays at lunch in room M221. Other ways to get involved in Storm Squad include messaging the Storm Squad Instagram account, talking to the Storm Squad advisor Megan Humphreys, or seeking Westphal out in the hallways. Westphal highlights the importance of recruiting more members to join Storm Squad to achieve their mission of supporting all Franklin students in their endeavors to foster true school spirit.
