by Elsa Ying (’23) and Anika Bastin (’23) | November 19, 2021

In late October, Saint Francis High School held its first Homecoming in two years. Faculty and students alike found themselves swept into the passion of the week, enthusiastically taking part in all of the events. A true celebration of community, the week included several fun events that reminded us all of the Lancer experience.

The celebration began with Homecoming Week, designed to get Lancers excited for the upcoming rallies, football game, and dance. Each day, Lancers dressed according to several fun themes, such as “Wild West or Wildlife” and “Surfer or Skater.” In addition, ASB and Student Council set up several fun lunchtime games such as cornhole and spikeball. Lunches also included events like a parade of floats, which were wagons decorated by several clubs, and karaoke. 

For Play Day, Rally Board transformed the football field into a medieval court, complete with a large feast table and medieval tunes. They stirred up a competitive edge in the student body with several fun games that excited the audience, including guess-the-song between the classes and a thrilling game of musical thrones from which the seniors emerged victorious. Several members of each of the classes contributed to make this rally a success, which was especially evident in the dance-off. The main event was, of course, the joust, with representatives duking it out in a bounce castle.

The rally also emphasized school-wide spirit, with several school activities and chants that demonstrated the force of the Lancer community. Varsity Spirit Squad and the newly formed cheerleading team both performed their own choreographed routines; the Saint Francis marching band played fun pop tunes in between acts, which served as both smooth transitions and quick ways to hype up the crowd. The rally ended on a playful note with several bouncy houses being open to all students.

Though the first rally was a tough act to follow, the seniors on Homecoming Court exceeded expectations with creative and engaging skits. First, Jewel Merriman, Kushal Chatterjee, Porsche Trinidad, and Leo Vagnati led the crowd on their Star-Wars-themed journey through a galaxy far, far away. With a live soundtrack provided by the marching band, the four heroes successfully completed their mission and passed the stage off to the next act. Ella McConnell and Hailey Multz, along with their crew, faced off against Brody Ghashghai and Joe Wallace with the Varsity Spirit Squad in a unique lip-sync battle. Caroline Arangio, Aidan James Sanchez, and Sarah Vorrath were up next with a clever skit detailing the drama of homecoming proposals. Thankfully, their skit ended with mutual homecoming proposals from Arangio and Vorrath, as well as the clever music choice of “Sweet Caroline” as a callback to Arangio’s name. Finally, Trinidad and Marc Orlando concluded the skits with their rendition of two songs from Grease, complete with leather jackets for Marc and his entourage and a Sandy-esque costume transformation for Trinidad.

As ASB planned rallies, Junior Student Council had been working hard behind the scenes for weeks before to pull off Saturday’s homecoming dance. From generating ideas for the Halloween theme to decorating the football field with seasonal cobwebs and streamers, the juniors ensured everyone attending had a spooky time dancing. Da Hee Yang (’23), a member of Junior Student Council, expressed her happiness with the event: “As a whole council, we were glad to see the huge attendance. While the check-in process took a while, the result was worth it, especially because everyone got to re-experience the high school homecoming vibes after the past year.” 

Overall, the 2021-2022 homecoming season was a brilliant success, not only for the faculty and students involved in the rally and planning of Homecoming Week, but also for Junior Student Council and many attendees of the dance.