New date, rules change Homecoming game

By: Breana Swisher

   Homecoming 2014 is quickly approaching.  The football game and parade are October 24 and the dance is October 25. However, some changes have occurred.

   This year’s Homecoming is significantly later than that of last year’s. Homecoming 2013 was September 28.  In fact, the school has not seen an October Homecoming in several years. Homecoming is so late this year because we didn’t have a good selection of dates.  The school had five home football games and the last one has to be senior night.  The first two football games were very early in the season, too early to have Homecoming.  That left two dates; October 3 and October 25.  October 3^rd there was a prescheduled band festival (Viking Fest) and volleyball tournament, so that left October 25 as our Homecoming date.  Though some people dislike anxiously waiting for Homecoming to arrive, some students like the later date.

   Junior Aaron Wilkinson said, “I like having a later Homecoming.  It allows more time to plan everything out.  It also gives you more time to settle into your school schedule before another major event occurs.”

   Every year each grade gets to build a float for the parade and there is a competition. The winner gets points in the class competition. Float building is a major category and arouses a lot of excitement.

   However, in order to standardize and to prevent one grade from having an advantage over another, some new rules have been applied. Over the past few years there has been some controversy about some grades having more money than others and having an overabundance of parent help.  There is no major change to the budget this year. Student council gave each grade $100.  There is no limit to the amount of money a student can spend out of pocket.  In addition, students are allowed to solicit donations from local businesses.

   There has also been some dispute about the location of the float building.  Many students like to construct their float at someone’s house, but in order to make sure everyone is included, that is no longer allowed. This year each grade was assigned a public location in walking distance from the school.

   The freshmen and seniors will be building their float at the Transportation Department across the street from the school.  They were placed at the same location so the seniors could help the freshmen if needed.  The juniors will be building their float at the Republican Headquarters and the sophomores will be building their float at the Fire Department.

      The scoring rubric is the same as it has been for the past few years.  A new addition is a handful of judges are just spectators who rank the floats 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th. Also, each chaperone who helped with the float is worth five points.

   These new rules are stricter than before and a few students disagree with them.

   Junior Skye Stover said, “I disagree with the new rules about location.  I really liked where we built our float for the past two years and I feel like everyone was welcomed.”

   Student Council Sponsor Becky Neal and student body president Jade Donohew worked hard to compile these new rules to create an even playing field.

   When asked what she would like to see the most out of students building the floats, Neal replied, “I would like to see teamwork and students having fun outside of class.  It is important for kids to realize it takes all of us to make the world go around.”

   Homecoming is a wonderful time of the year for students to learn the value of teamwork and unity.