While students enjoy the lights and music, a dedicated team works behind the scenes to make Homecoming night come alive. This year, all of the student council collaborated in putting together the event.
“We’re all a part of Homecoming and decorating for Homecoming. And StuCo has just been incredibly helpful and everyone is very dedicated and everyone is very involved,” junior representative Sophia Price said.
Price has been on the student council since her freshman year, which means it is her third year participating in the organization of the dance. This is her first year having more than one responsibility.
“I’ve been working on the poster, the really big banner for the gymnasium,” Price said. “I also have been looking for decorations for Homecoming and planning out what we need to buy or make ourselves.”
The banner is an important part in creating the ambiance of Homecoming. Stretching across the gymnasium, it matches the theme of the year. The student council spent several days painting and assembling decorations to make sure the gym looked perfect for the big night.
“Right now the banner is in my garage. That’s where we’re keeping it and then the Friday before Homecoming we go and set it up,” junior representative Ryan Sontag said.
Between their Homecoming responsibilities and their everyday commitments, student council members have to balance schoolwork and other activities to make sure everything is ready before the big night. They dedicated countless hours ensuring that every detail would come together so students could enjoy a memorable celebration.
“I have had to pop in for time periods at a time to go in and help and we definitely had to clear out our weekends to help do most of the decorating,” Sontag said.
Each year, the members of the student council take time to be sure little things like the decorations and the banner elevates the students’ experience in the best way possible. From buying materials to crafting decorations by hand, they pour hours of effort into creating a night that feels special and memorable for everyone who walks through the doors. But it was not always like that. Before Covid-19 hit, the school used to hire a decorator.
“We used to pay for a decorator, but we stopped doing that just because … it wasn’t worth the money to pay a decorator to come. So we started doing the decorations ourselves,” student council sponsor John Hinton said.
Hinton has been in this role for 20 years and has witnessed how Homecoming has evolved over the decades. He works alongside the students from the earliest stages of choosing the theme to the final touches of decoration week.
“This year’s theme definitely took a second to choose. I don’t think we were super sure about it right at first but then we’ve all warmed up to it and it’s been really fun to decorate it,” Sontag said.
The choice of the theme marks the beginning of the entire Homecoming planning process, it is what guides every decision. Brainstorming begins as early as May, with student council members pitching ideas and drawing inspiration from past events. The final vote takes place at the start of the school year, setting the tone for months of preparation that culminate in one unforgettable night.
“I think there was a point where you could tell that we were tired and a little delirious, but we were all just having so much fun just joking around and messing with each other,” Price said. “We had been there for maybe like six hours at that point.”
The night of Homecoming creates many memories but the preparation leading to it also does. Because the whole point of Homecoming is for the students to have fun. The preparation of it is no exception. Even if it can be stressful and hard to manage all those responsibilities, the sense of teamwork, creativity, and excitement makes every late night and last-minute fix worth it.
“I just hope that everyone knows how much we’ve all been putting into Homecoming and I really hope that they can appreciate all of the decorations and effort it took.” Price said.
