After a year without any school dance related festivities, this year, they are back. In August, STUGO announced that the school was preparing to host homecoming and all the events that usually come with it, like the parade, carnival, assembly, and spirit week.

The theme, Midnight Manor, was officially announced Sep. 3, along with the date of the dance, Oct. 23, in a video on twitter. However, due to protocols still set in place by the district, this year’s dance will be outside in between the D and E buildings. 

“The hallway that would normally lead to the dance inside is still going to be decorated like a hallway just outside,” said senior STUGO historian Brooke Lassen, “We’re trying to get it as in the theme as possible, but there is a lot more space to cover which is also why the tickets are a little more expensive this year [$40 instead of $30]…to accommodate for the extra decorations we’re using.”

Homecoming week brings in a lot of money, not just for the school, but for many clubs and classes as well. With homecoming comes the homecoming parade and the carnival, which are two major promotional and fundraising events clubs have the chance to participate in. One club that usually draws in a lot of money and visitors for the carnival is theater. So when the school was not allowed to have a homecoming or any of it’s related events last year, many clubs were affected, including theater. 

“Carnival is usually a big thing for us,” said senior theater student Lily Wagner, “not getting the chance to do it last year sucked…there wasn’t really anything big to start off the school year the way there normally is.”

This year, though, the carnival came back! While some clubs had to modify what they would normally do, like theater having to move their haunted house/performance to the dungeon instead of building D, there were many activities to participate in and clubs to support at the carnival on Oct 20. 

As for homecoming court, during the last week of first quarter, there was a table outside at lunch where you would go to nominate individuals and/or couples for court. The names were then counted and they took the most popular votes from each grade to make up the final nominees for each class on the ballot. The nominees this year were:

Freshman:

Haley Mayo and Derek Bashford

Taumi Spencer and Hayden Moon

Sophomore:

Aliki Xenikakis and Joshua Zumani

Kalli Lyons and Logan Turner

Junior: 

Anna Fountain and Aaron Clark

Presley Plant and Riley Griggs

Kimorah Castile and Logan Brostrom

Senior:

Halle Gardner and Mason Rosenhan

Jaymie Wollert and Bradley Church

Eliza Weikel and Ethan Andersen

“I was very surprised to hear I was nominated,” said senior Halle Gardner, “but I feel honored, even if we don’t win!!”

The winners of the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes were announced at the assembly on Friday, while the winners of the senior class were announced at the football game later that night. The winners were:

Freshman:

Taumi Spencer and Hayden Moon

Sophomore:

Aliki Xenikakis and Joshua Zumani

Junior:

Presley Plant and Riley Griggs

Senior:

Jaymie Wollert and Bradley Church

Last night, Oct. 22, football, along with pom and cheer, honored their seniors at the last home game of the season. Students packed the stands in all white for the whiteout theme after a spirit week full of a Tale of Two (twin day, Monday), Running Scared (workout day, Tuesday), Ghost Bustin’ on a Budget (Thrift Day, Wednesday), Where it All Began (80s throwback day, Thursday), and Moonlight Night (white out, Friday.) 

The pumas lost to Casteel 13-26, but homecoming week does not end there. The homecoming dance will be held tonight, Oct. 23, from 7-10 pm in between the D and E buildings. 

Have a happy homecoming!!!!