The cheers of Jones students can be heard across the entire South Loop. The aroma of a Dunkin’ Donuts truck fills the air while a crew from ABC 7 Chicago prepares to broadcast to the entire city. The energy from students and staff would make you think they had all gotten a full night of sleep. But it’s 4:45 a.m. They’re not here for a pep rally or a big game. They’re here to show Chicago what it means to be an Eagle.

Students and staff gathered early at the school Friday morning to showcase Jones during ABC 7 Chicago’s Friday Flyover segment. Friday Flyover is a weekly series during the fall where ABC 7 Chicago features the school spirit of one high school. The show is aired live and is cut to intermittently during the morning news.

Administration was contacted in the middle of August about the opportunity to participate, Athletic Director David Gilmer said. Schools have to be nominated in order for the chance to be featured. ABC 7 Chicago told administration it was one of the most nominated schools they’ve ever had, according to Gilmer.

Students started coming into the school around 4 a.m. to prepare for the event. The show started off at 4:45 a.m. outside the South building entrance. Friday Flyover host Val Warner stood in front of a crowd of students screaming to the cameras as loud as they could as she introduced Jones.

Students formed a spirit tunnel for Warner to walk through the entrance to get to the South lobby stairs for a performance from the choir of their song “The Heart of Chicago”, which they had been practicing since the beginning of the year, choir member Helena Smith-Donald, a senior, said.

“We have a great choir at Jones,” Smith-Donald said. “It’s really cool to be able to show that off to the news and to the world.”

Warner and her crew then went over to the South auditorium for a preview of the fall play “The Skin of Our Teeth.” Warner walked amongst the cast as they went back and forth across the stage to showcase their production.

 “Theater kids want all the attention,” cast member Persephone Drain, a sophomore, said, “so everybody was really excited about the opportunity.”

The ABC 7 Chicago crew caught up with the mass of students around 5:30 a.m. in the courtyard to listen to the band play before entering the Harrison foyer to listen to a piece from the orchestra.

Students’ energy remained unwavering as they trekked up the South building stairs to the engineering and digital imaging classrooms on the fifth floor. A crowd gathered around Blueprint staff in the hallway as they did a mock interview with Warner.

The airing ended on the seventh floor. Student Government Association Senior Class President Ben Smaroff awarded Warner the title of honorary homecoming queen, a title she said she will represent proudly.

Warner talked to girls swimming coach Nicole Riegert while swimmers jumped in formation into the pool. When Warner exited the pool, she and her crew were greeted by students on the balcony in a J-shaped formation. The show ended around 7:15 a.m. with a close up of Principal Kerry Dolan with the football team, as JCP chants from students defined the scene. 

Friday Flyover helped students disprove the school’s reputation of having little school spirit, Dolan said.

“We historically have struggled as a commuter school to have a common identity,” Dolan said. “Today we saw that it’s the different facets of our identity that make us who we are.”

Bringing the event to life was all because of the long and deliberate planning done by students and teachers, Gilmer said.

“I was so impressed with the amount of students who were willing to come early in the morning and show off the things that they’re passionate about,” Dolan said.

As the large crowd of students traveled from floor to floor, special emphasis was placed on the football team that entered its inaugural season. Tight end and defensive end T.J. Dumas, a senior, said that the team met after practice Thursday evening to make sure everybody went to sleep early to prepare for Friday Flyover.

“It was really important to give our 100%,” Dumas said. “To do that, we need to bring energy, show school spirit and just do our thing as a football program. We did a great job of doing that today.”

Drain said the Friday Flyover feature was a good step in the right direction toward building school spirit further.

“The people who showed up really want to be a part of the community and it really bonded those of us who really care about this school,” Drain said.

Despite how early the taping of Friday Flyover was, students woke up to show up for Jones. Gilmer said that he wants the city to know how special the people who make up Jones are. Friday Flyover helped make that clear to Chicago.

“This is a place that takes people from all over the city who have a lot of different experiences and passions and puts them together,” Gilmer said. “That’s what we did today in two and a half hours.”