HOMECOMING is one of the most exciting events of high school. Homecoming week is full of memorable activities like the dress-up days, the homecoming assembly, the football game, a carnival, and finally the big dance. Granger’s student body officers were responsible for most of the planning surrounding homecoming. They created posters, brainstormed themes, and coordinated attention-catching activities. The SBOs were in charge of making tough decisions like deciding the official and final theme for homecoming, and even the themes for the dress-up days leading up to the football game.
Each day had its own exciting theme. For Monday, the student government decided on pastel colors as the theme. Tuesday was a “twin day” where students could match with another person. On Wednesday, students were able to show off their best beach outfits, and on Thursday they rocked their jorts. Finally, Friday was a complete blue-out for the homecoming football game and the carnival that day. Many students agree that it was fun to have activities to look forward to during school for a whole week.
Behind the curtains, students and faculty made homecoming an event that students will be able to look back on in a meaningful way by making sure everything went well. They hope Lancers will be so impressed by homecoming that they look forward to the other upcoming school dances. “All the class officers have been helping make posters, and we have been making sure to be prepared, so that in case anything goes wrong, we know how to handle it,” junior class secretary Pryzma Guerrero Alvarez (11) said.
The change in schedule of the homecoming dance has raised suspicions of possible complications regarding the preparations. It is still unknown of the motive behind this change. “I’m not sure why they made it an hour shorter to be honest, but I know it was usually from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., and this time it is from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.,” junior class president Angel Marquez Santiago (11) said.
Luckily, there were no serious complications or delays for the SBOs to resolve, yet this does not mean that the preparations that were made were an easy job. “Right now we are preparing for the assembly, and everyone is busy making posters. It’s going to be outside, and so when you step on the railings you are going to see a lot of posters about homecoming,” junior class vice president Jose Landa (11) said. All the posters around the school and on the football field during homecoming week are proof the hard work that was put into homecoming preparations, as well as the decorations set up for the homecoming dance. “We are also getting decorations done for the day of the dance. We are working on making some nice decorations to make the dance look better,” Marquez said.
Although all preparations and events were on track, many are worried about the success and student spirit homecoming will receive. “I feel like some will look forward to homecoming and some won’t just because of the PTA stomp in the courtyard. I feel like not many people went, and just looking at the reviews and posts it might have seemed kinda lame. Maybe people think that is how every other dance is going to be, and they probably won’t want to come,” Marquez said. “But if they go to homecoming and see how good it is, I think they will end up liking it,” Marquez said.
Alhough there were some worries surrounding the participation of students during rallies, games, and dances, many assume that it will not be as grand of a problem as it was last school year. It is said that last school year’s freshmen were not very active or interested in school activities. “I am calling out the sophomores,” Landa said. “I feel like this year the freshmen are more active compared to last year. Last year, the freshmen were not really active in student spirit, but this year we saw in the hello assembly how a lot of the freshmen really participated, so maybe the freshmen are actually hyped about homecoming,” Landa said. Landa says participation in the assembly, football game, the carnival, and the dance will be much better than last year — judging from the responses received from freshmen during the hello assembly.
Overall, all the SBOs and student officers were hopeful that Lancers would enjoy themselves at all these homecoming events. They were all hopeful the events were hyped and that their efforts to promote were helpful. “I think it would be a good experience for students, and a good first dance for freshmen,” student body vice president Mason Biddulph (12) said. “I think there is a lot of hype for homecoming, a lot of advertising, and if they go I think it’ll be a fun experience for them,” Biddulph said.
