Homecoming Weekend

Homecoming is an annual event that sparks a sense of school pride in students.

Every year, during the week before Homecoming, the Students against Destructive Decisions Club, or SADD, sponsors a Spirit Week.

Spirit Week is a week “to celebrate the school’s pride in all of their students and to support the many sports and activities that are involved in our school during the fall,” said SADD sponsor Alicia Leopold.

To do this, each day is given a theme, and students can dress up each day in accordance to the theme.

This year, the themes were hat day, college shirt day, pink day, sport team day, and blue and gold day, according to Leopold.

“SADD is about helping students make good decisions and participating in healthy safe activities,” said Leopold. “ By sponsoring a spirit week we provide an opportunity to do this.”

The Homecoming Bonfire is an annual event at which clubs raise money through the sale of various food, crafts, and games.

The bonfire typically takes place on the Thursday before Homecoming weekend, but will be held on October 20th this year due to concerns about the weather.

This year, the bonfire’s set up will be slightly restructured, and some of the booths will be in the parking lot, according to science teacher Rebecca Connelly.

This is the second year that Connelly, as well as science teachers Hannah Beno and Amy Smith, had been in charge of planning the bonfire.

“I think it’s cool to start with noting an end up wit a pretty successful and tall bonfire,” said Connelly.

For many students, this event is not only a chance to raise money for their own clubs, but also to have fun with their friends and other Murrysvillians.

“I enjoy participating in the bonfire because it is a nice event to connect with the community,” said senior Pay It Forward President Kayo Tsuchihashi.

Most years, the day after the bonfire is the day of the Homecoming football game.

“I like [the homecoming football game] because watching the band perform is really fun, and it’s great to see people returning from college,” said junior Lindsay Cummins.

This year, Franklin Regional’s football team played Connellsville and won 45-0.

During halftime, Franklin Regional presented Connellsville representatives with donations to assist with the damages caused by a flood on August 28, 2016.

It was also announced that many clubs had pledged to raise more money at the bonfire.

These clubs include Students Against Destructive Decisions, Pay It Forward, Red Cross, Student Council, French Club, and Rotary Interact, as well as the swimming, hockey, and cheerleading teams.

After this, the Homecoming King and Queen were announced.

Senior Simon Behr was voted king, and senior Caroline Taddonio was voted queen.

“It was really cool to be elected,” said Taddonio. “I’m very grateful to be a part of such an awesome year.”

This year the theme of the Homecoming Dance was “Come Sail Away,” and was planned by the members of Student Council and sponsor Roger Crider and Kristin Giron.

“We start [planning homecoming] in spring, and continue to meet in summer and fall,” said Crider.

This year, the Student Council decided to change the way they decorated the gym for the dance.

“We wanted to make it better for the students,” said Crider, “so we decided to use props like lighthouses and boats to make it look more realistic.”

They also decided to make some changes to the snacks provided at the dance.

“In previous years, we’ve just had cookies,” said Crider, “but this year, we chose to have bags of chips, as well as candy,”

The candy selection included many nautical themed snacks like salt-water taffy, Swedish Fish, and Goldfish crackers.

The day before the dance, the members of Student Council spent around five hours decorating for the dance, according to Crider.

“I’ve always enjoyed decorating the most,” said senior president of Student Council Sarah Seman.

The hard work of the Student Council members make the dance a fun and exciting occasion for all students.

“It’s really fun to see everyone’s outfits and take pictures,” said sophomore Kenna Gray.

#feature