Hoping to make this Homecoming season different and increase school spirit, Student Council held a spirit week for students and re-introduced the Homecoming tailgate leading up to the eventful weekend.
The Homecoming dance took place on October 21.
According to co-advisor Melissa Kling, the Student Council officers and representatives come up with the ideas for the week and take on certain responsibilities for the different events they organize.
“Like for the pep rally, each officer has a job that they are responsible for,” Kling said.
Student Council took on organizing another event this year which was the homecoming tailgate, created by President Emma Potter, that was held before the football game on October 20.
“I feel like the Homecoming football game is such a big part of [Homecoming], but there’s been nothing else,” Potter said. “Homecoming is just a big thing, in general, so I thought [the tailgate] would be fun to just get people excited.”
Along with the tailgate, the Homecoming package was another addition to Student Council’s ticket sales this year.
“You can group your dance ticket, your food voucher, and a t-shirt for the game and it saves you $5,” Vice President Olivia Plinke said.
Student Council also took some ideas away from their recent trip to the Student Council State Conference, such as the CO2 guns that were sprayed at the crowd throughout the dance.
“They would spray [the CO2 guns] and it looked like a bunch of steam coming at you,” Plinke said, “but it was cold, so it felt so good. So that’s something we got for Homecoming this year.”
According to Kling, the school spirit that Homecoming week provides helps with the “togetherness” within the school and allows the different grades to “interact” with each other.
“I remember the feeling I had at the pep rally last year like ‘Oh my gosh, there are so many people’ and everyone’s so excited,” Kling said. “It’s a really exciting event and it just carries through into the football game and into the dance.”
The spirit and energy that has increased this year has also led to a spike in ticket sales with about 1,500 tickets sold.
“I think it’s really cool because this year is one of the biggest Homecomings that the most people are going to,” Potter said.
According to co-advisor Jennifer Pichler, the rise in interest in football this year is something that Student Council focused on leading up to homecoming weekend.
“[We decided to make it] big about football. I think that, just in general, a lot of people are really getting into football,” Pichler said.
According to Pichler, “really focusing on the sports aspect of it and then the homecoming dance,” has made Homecoming a larger event.
Junior Taylor Steaehle also feels that the dance is a fun way to spend time with friends.
“Just being able to have fun and hang out with my friends, [go to] pictures, and hang out with people afterwards is always really fun,” Steaehle said.
