This year’s homecoming week, held from September 23 to 28, included both new and traditional events in light of unexpected changes. Organized by student council and led by senior co-presidents Breckan Henkhaus and Maddie Kohler, activities featured included spirit days, hallway decorating, powderpuff games, a pep rally, and the homecoming dance.
Student council began preparing over the summer, fine-tuning these plans at the beginning of the school year.
“We start planning Spirit Week and homecoming week a couple weeks before the actual week, so pretty much right when school starts we get ideas going,” Henkhaus said.
According to Henkhaus, the themes for Spirit Week – twin day, surfers vs. bikers day, Adam Sandler day, country day, and the traditional color block day – were designed to engage the student body.
“We have everybody pitch ideas, and then take votes on them,” Henkhaus said. “We always try to keep in mind the interests of the general student body and pick things that are fun and engaging.”
Alongside student council, Jessica McCabe, the club’s advisor, played a large role in organizing homecoming this year.
“I love watching the students collaborate and execute their vision, whether that’s deciding on the themes or just picking out decorations,” McCabe said.
Students were also able to participate in the tradition of homecoming hallways, wherein each grade transformed its assigned hallway into a themed space, including Wild West, Candyland, Winter Wonderland, and Under the Sea. Kohler, who began the tradition last year, said it is one of her favorite parts of the week.
“We had so much more engagement this year which was amazing to see,” Kohler said. “I love a good chance for everyone in the grade to work together on a common goal, and the hallways ended up looking really cool.”
Powderpuff is another tradition that students are able to take part in. This year, the first games took place Wednesday night, with freshmen winning against sophomores and seniors winning against juniors.
“Powderpuff was super fun this year,” Kohler said. “I’m so proud of the freshmen this year. Their class president Nyah Nelson did an amazing job coordinating a team and making shirts for them – something that freshmen haven’t gotten in the past couple of years.”
Following the cancellation of the traditional Friday homecoming game, a second round of powderpuff was added, with seniors winning against freshmen and sophomores winning against juniors. Despite the disruption to the schedule and the week’s traditions, student council was excited for the new opportunity it brought the teams.
“It was such a unique experience for all grades to be able to say that they played in their school’s homecoming football game, so I feel like it worked out very well in the end,” Henkhaus said.
On Thursday, students competed in a school-wide game of trivia, where advisories competed for the grand prize of a popsicle party. McCabe said the success of the activity has student council considering it for future homecoming weeks.
“I heard from advisory teachers that some students who they’d never really connected with or heard a lot from really became more social from trivia,” McCabe said. “We are excited to…see how it evolves.”
Friday capped off the week with a school-wide game of rock-paper-scissors, where grades competed against each other to rack up the most beaded necklaces. After seventh hour, students headed to the gym for a pep rally led by Brian Schulteis, social studies teacher, and Miguel Browne, campus supervisor.
Homecoming week concluded with Saturday’s dance. The “Hoco Hoedown” theme was decided by the student council, and Henkhaus said its DJ, senior Ben Weisse, encouraged student involvement and brought an entertaining atmosphere to the dance.
“He’s so incredibly talented and I think that we owe a lot of praise to him,” Henkhaus said.
While planning the event came with its own set of challenges, Henkhaus ultimately views the week as a success.
“Homecoming week couldn’t be what it is without an engaged student body,” Henkhaus said. “It’s been so amazing to see everybody participating over the last few years, and finally getting the school spirit back to what it used to be before [the pandemic].”