This year, Shorewood’s Homecoming week lasted from September 25 to 30, featuring traditions such as the Pep Rally, Powderpuff games, and many more events were organized in order to create a more exciting start to the school year. 

Each year, Student Council is responsible for putting together the various Homecoming events. Members of the club all put forth a consistent effort throughout the week.

 Maddie Kohler, junior and executive on Student Council, assisted in organizing Homecoming week. 

“[Student council] started preparation for Homecoming during summer and did some basic planning,” Kohler said. “It’s a stressful process.”

Kohler emphasized the effort that went into planning Homecoming week.

“This year [student council] had a meeting every single day during homecoming week to make sure everything was going smoothly,” Kohler said. “It’s helpful [that] we have such a big Student Council and everyone there did their part in helping with either decoration or planning for the week.”

In addition to traditional activities, Homecoming Hallways were brought to Shorewood. 

“[The hallways] were a new idea that was introduced by the executive board this year,” said Masha Malinkine, junior class president. “Lots of people helped in decorating and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun with it.”

The class presidents were responsible for their individual hallways and voted on the themes. Freshman chose halloween, sophomores chose pink, juniors chose jungle, and seniors chose beach. 

“Homecoming preparation last year was pretty rushed and so one of our goals for this year was to have more time and preparation to make it better, and I think it definitely did,” Malinkine said.

Though there was interest in reviving the Homecoming parade, Student Council faced challenges.

 “We wanted [to bring back] a parade float this year, but there were problems with the permit for a parade so we weren’t able to do it,” Kohler said. “We hope that next year we can get the parade float going again.”

Students had the opportunity to participate in the following themed dress up days: rhyme without reason, dress as your type, Barbie vs. Oppenheimer, and color block. 

Katherine Purvis, junior, enjoyed this year’s new spirit themes. 

“My favorite day was ‘Rhyme Without Reason’ and my friend and I dressed up as a ‘tennis pro’ and a ‘frat bro,’” Purvis said. “It was super fun to see everyone’s different rhymes, and there were a bunch of creative ones.”

On Wednesday, the powderpuff game was held on the football field. The freshmen took on sophomores, followed by juniors against seniors.

Rosalie Migan, senior team captain, faced an unexpected obstacle before the game.

“The night of the game was very chaotic for [the seniors] because our team shirts didn’t actually come in time so we bought a bunch of white shirts and decorated them like 15 minutes before our game,” Migan said. “So literally having to draw names on our shirts was a little nerve racking but I also think it helped us come together as a team which was good.”

The sophomores were victorious over the freshman, and the seniors bested the juniors in a dramatic field goal shootoff.

The pep rally was held on Friday, with competitions between grades consisting of musical chairs, tug of war and oreo eating challenges. Then, Friday night, Messwood took on Wisconsin Lutheran at home. Wyatt Schick, senior, came into the game expecting a difficult but competitive experience. 

“We unfortunately could not get the win, we had a tough opponent in Wisconsin Lutheran,” Schick said. “It was an opportunity for us to play against a good team.”

Despite the undesired outcome, Schick appreciated the support of the students that came to watch, as it was his last homecoming game.

“It was really emotional because it was the last homecoming game I would be a part of,” Schick said. “I was upset with the outcome but I was happy to see everyone come out and support the football team. Losing sucks, but it’s all about how you and your teammates look at it; take it as a learning experience and get better from it.”

To conclude the week, Shorewood’s north gym held the Disco themed Homecoming dance.