Homecoming Week: A Great Week to Be a Bear

Each year, as the fall approaches, the anticipation for homecoming festivities increases within the Riverbend High School student body. Concluding in the grand finale of the homecoming dance, the events leading up to the long-awaited Saturday evening are often just as fun as the dance itself. 

This year, kicking off homecoming week was the Friday before, which began spirit week with “Pink Out” Day, encouraging all students to dress in all pink gear to show their support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

In the students’ last block class, they gathered in the gymnasium for the pep rally. During the pep rally, various groups of students competed in competitions to win points for their grade level, culminating with the end of the pep rally, where the grade with the most points received the spirit stick. This year, after competitions of musical chairs, relay races, and tug of war, the senior class emerged victorious, winning the spirit stick for the year!

Friday evening was the homecoming tailgate, where various clubs at RHS decorated booths and hosted activities for the students, ranging from a robotics obstacle course to a photo booth to spikeball and badminton games; there was an activity fit for everyone! 

Succeeding the tailgate was the homecoming football game. This year, the homecoming game was against Colonial Forge. As the students trickled into the stadium, they began to fill the student section as kickoff approached. Since the theme for the game was “Pink Out,” the student section was covered in a sea of pink-- from pink wigs to tutus to glasses! The student section was the place to be on Friday night, especially for the homecoming game, as the student section radiated mounds of school spirit!

On the following Monday, spirit week continued, each day with a different assigned theme. SCA Secretary Joshua Bartlett said, “My favorite spirit day this year was dress as your favorite celebrity/character day because I could see so many students participating and dressing up from video games to movies, to A-listers.” 

Finally, on Friday, spirit week concluded with “Bear Wear,” where students wore the school colors blue and green, except for seniors, who continued the school tradition of wearing togas. As spirit week ended, the school spirit surely didn’t die down, as the excitement and anticipation for the homecoming dance grew. 

At the dance, there were snacks, photo booths, and a DJ playing music inside the gym. The dance was made complete with Greek-themed decorations, tying together the dance’s theme of “A Night Time in Greece.”

Often overlooked was the hard work the SCA put in behind the scenes. “We have been planning homecoming since last year,” stated Bartlett. Bartlett was a co-leader of the dance committee in planning homecoming week and was responsible for decoration, set-up, and take-down for the dance. It takes months of planning for the week to come together, and without the SCA, it wouldn’t happen. 

Overall, homecoming was deemed a success in the RHS community and brought the students together for a fun week of festivities. “It gives us a sense of unity. Amongst all of our different paths, talents, struggles, and friendships, we can all have fun on the dance floor with friends and bask in good energy,” Bartlett summarized. 

One thing is for sure: throughout the week, students made countless memories!