If Wareham Middle School students do well on their MCAS, Principal Dan Minkle is going to lay a big, fat kiss on a real-live pig.

“Kiss the pig! Kiss the pig! Kiss the pig!,” chanted a large group of Wareham Middle School fifth-graders Friday at a pep rally organized to get kids excited to take the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Center (MCAS), which is mandatory for students grades three through 12 across the state.

An unknown person came into the auditorium Friday dressed in a big, pink pig suit, which got students charged up for the testing — and Minkle’s potential smooch.

“We’ve tried the serious approach,” said Minkle at the rally, “but we really haven’t gone in this direction to get kids excited about doing well. It’s appropriate to the age group. The kids, they come in with so much energy. We’re trying to get them to channel it.”

Besides the big pig mascot, students from the "CARE Steppers" performed a dance routine, and history teacher Jeff Gately donned a blonde 1980s-style wig, played guitar, and sang a Sammy Hagar song he rearranged called “Heavy Metal,” with words intended to inspire kids to do well on the test’s writing prompts.

“It’s deceptively educational,” said Gately.

He explained that METAL stood for main idea, example, textual evidence, analysis, and link, which he said are all important parts to writing.

“It’s part of Dr. (Andrea) Schwamb’s new way to get higher MCAS scores on open response,” said Gately.

Gym teacher Nichole Stahmer also spoke to the group about relaxation methods students could utilize when taking the tests, and Assistant Principal Sandi Ponte also did her best to fire up the students.

“This is all about getting you charged up to rock out on MCAS scores next week,” she said. “When we all work really hard together, we can do something really powerful.”

Earlier in the week, sixth and seventh-graders at the school were treated to similar rallies, as the entire school celebrated Spirit Week with different themes each day of the week.

“With this age level, it’s a question of motivation,” said Minkle. “How do you stress the importance of the test? We have to try to appeal to them — to bring them up. It’s a way to create some excitement.”