On September 27, students convened in the high school’s North Gym for the annual homecoming dance. The gym was decorated with neon balloons and other glowing decorations as well as the customary colored lights for the theme “Neon Lights.” The dance also featured a rotating photo booth and PE teacher Miguel Browne as DJ.
“I think the turnout was really great, and the whole student council really collaborated well on the decorations and we made it a simple theme, so it was easy to plan for,” said Claire Gartner, senior and student body president.
Jessica McCabe, staff member and student council advisor, corroborated Gartner’s statement regarding the dance’s turnout.
“Just over 50 percent of the student body came, and that’s really good,” McCabe said. “To give you a rough estimate, we have roughly 600 kids and about 300 kids came to the dance, which makes me happy.”
Senior class vice president JD Thiel was part of that turnout in addition to being part of the planning committee. For Thiel, his status as a senior had a profound effect on his experience at the dance.
“Walking to the dance, seeing everybody there, seeing the decorations up, hearing the music and getting in there with my friends and jumping around, dancing, knowing it’s my last time doing it and living in the moment, not worrying about yesterday or tomorrow, just having fun with my friends and classmates was great,” Thiel said.
While most students’ homecoming experience starts with buying a ticket during Homecoming Week, for student council, the preparation begins as early as over the summer.
“Over the summer, [the exec board] met three times, and we [decided] it would just be easier to pick a theme before school started, so that we can plan throughout the summer so we can make the beginning of school less stressful,” Gartner said. “Then we were between a couple themes, like country club and neon lights, [but] we thought neon lights would be easier to do.”
Once school was in session, the next steps towards bringing the dance to fruition was the acquisition of supplies.
“We compile a list of supplies we’re gonna need to decorate the dance, get those ordered, and then [since] it’s a fundraiser, we have to work to sell tickets after that,” Thiel said. “Then…that Friday after school, we had a huge team of people come in and help set up the dance.”
However, the dance is not the only part of the homecoming tradition. Homecoming Week, which takes place the week leading up to the dance on Saturday, is packed with spirit days, games, a pep rally, and sporting events such as the Homecoming soccer game and Powder Puff tournament. This year, spirit day themes included jersey day, twin day, Greek life, USA, and color block. Thiel shared a preference for Friday being the best day of spirit week.
“Friday’s always great, because it’s color block, it’s the pep rally, it’s all the festivities,” Thiel said. “It’s rochambeau, everyone’s excited for the weekend…I’d say Friday is definitely the most electric.”
McCabe also noted the sense of “electric” anticipation surrounding homecoming.
“You’re amped up, you’re starting the school year, [and] freshmen are very new,” McCabe said. “They’re not really sure what to think of everything whereas the seniors are like, yes, I’m ready to go. So the anticipation of homecoming week, that’s always really fun.”
According to Thiel, the senior class did bring a renewed energy and sense of community to the homecoming festivities this year.
“I think it was just special because of the group of people, I felt like we all came together and embraced one another as a grade,” Thiel said. “We’ve done a lot of senior oriented activities before and after school started, so just being with that group of people that we’ve built a strong bond with was awesome.”