Homecoming is an essential part of the high school experience. As soon as the academic year begins, students are waiting for that grand week filled with festivities and school spirit. Even though the week itself feels fun and entertaining, there is a lot of serious work that goes into its planning. Taking a peek behind the scenes with the people most involved in creating Homecoming shows us how the entire week came to be.
The first step of creating homecoming week is the theme. The Associated Student Body (ASB) had been brainstorming themes since the beginning of the school year. Hailey Harris (’24), the Spirit Commissioner for ASB, explained how the theme had to be broad enough to capture all the different events that went on during the week: “dress-up days, lunchtime games, the rally, the football game, and the dance.” Ms. Savinovich, Associate Activities Director, explained that in previous years, the different events did not mesh together well under the main theme. However this year, after getting “clever and creative,” ASB landed on a theme that all the days could encapsulate, “Lancer Liftoff.” This theme included everything aviation-related, from “Airport Fits” on Monday to the “Night Sky” dance on Saturday. Having such a broad theme made it easy for everyone to participate and have a great time.
The spirit days also had to be just as unique as the theme. These days provided a special opportunity for students to dress up and express their creativity outside of the regular dress code. Gabriella Ip (’24), Social Justice, Equity, and Inclusion Representative for ASB, emphasized how ASB wanted to avoid repeating the same themes as last year. This year’s “Lancer Liftoff” sparked many great spirit day ideas. The spirit day that was the most popular was Wednesday’s “Find Your Flight Crew,” when students wore group costumes. Ms. Savinovich explained how it helped “dissuade the fear” of feeling alone, and helped make people comfortable knowing others would dress up with them. This safety and connection with others was the point of the whole week. People dressed up as everything from iconic duos, such as Mario and Luigi, to favorite friend groups, like the Mean Girls. These dress-up days were also complemented by lunchtime activities, the biggest hit being the In-Flight Entertainment Talent Show. “There were so many people in the Innovation Theater, we had to start turning people away because there were not enough seats!” Harris exclaimed. Others from ASB agreed. “All the acts in the talent show made my jaw drop to the floor, and I could definitely tell others felt the same because of the cheering,” Ip shared.
A new part of this year’s Homecoming was the introduction of a spirit points system. “The hope for this system was to encourage positive class competition to get more people to participate in games and dress-up days. I did a lot of the behind-the-scenes work for this from creating videos, making rubrics for teachers, and even announcing the winner at the rally! The system ended up working very well and we saw increased engagement and it is something I am looking to improve upon in the future,” Harris explained.
Homecoming is so much more than just a fun week. It shapes the entire culture of the school. The atmosphere that it creates at the beginning of the year makes the freshmen feel welcome, and the sophomores, juniors, and seniors feel right back at home after summer break. It sets the energy for the rest of the school year and provides a fun respite from the stress of academics. Looking behind the scenes, we can see exactly how ASB helped make this year’s homecoming week a memorable one.
