The last two weeks have been hectic. Hurricane Milton and changes in exam schedules wreaked havoc at the end of quarter one. As students get back into the swing of the new quarter, complications from natural disasters, exams, and standardized tests have interfered with students’ headspace, as well as their homecoming plans.
“The hardest part about setting everything up for homecoming week is just all the work. There’s a lot of different details and plans that go into it, but with a lot of leadership students, we get it done,” senior body vice president Celine Merlin said.
While every day will be packed with activities, the biggest one is the Saturday night homecoming dance.
Starting at 7 p.m. and ending at 10 p.m., tickets to the event are now being sold for $40 on MySchoolBucks.com. The last day to purchase a ticket is Oct. 23, and there are less than 100 tickets left. Students must either have a Minga ID or a school-issued ID to enter the dance. Guests must also have their school-issued ID to enter. Guest forms are no longer available on eCampus.
A big issue from last year were the long lines students found while checking into the homecoming dance. The line backed up past the Husky statue to get in, and it took a long time to actually get into the dance. Leadership teacher Kari Miller suggested that students to have their Minga ID out and ready to be scanned at the gate to make the line go quicker.
“The biggest thing we’d like is for the check-in process to go faster. It’s always a lengthy process. Even with a cap on our dance, we’ll have a lot of students in line. If students could have their Minga open when they get in line, we think that’ll be faster this year, but if students don’t have Minga loaded or open, that will slow it down,” Miller said.
In the past, another complaint has been about the music choices of the DJ. This year, leadership. has it covered.
“We’ve communicated with our DJ that we want a little bit more variety,” Miller said. “There’s a huge variety of tastes when it comes to music, and we know that we’re never going to make every person happy with every song, but we’ve sent him a list of songs that we’re hoping will appeal to at least most of our student body.”
The dance will be the main event, but the week starts on Monday with an ‘American Idol’ themed dress-up day, where students should wear patriotic attire. In addition, during both lunches, there will be a club carnival in the courtyard, and 12 clubs will have games set up where students can participate and win prizes.
On Tuesday, the theme is ‘We Belong Together,” where students should dress up as their favorite dynamic duo or trio with their friends. Also, at 7 p.m., the powderpuff game takes place at Sam Momary Stadium. The cost to attend is $10 on Gofan, and a QR code to purchase can be found in the homecoming playbooks that were handed out during seventh period on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the theme is “On Wednesdays We Wear Pink,” where students should go all out in pink, or dress as their favorite character from “Mean Girls.” Also, from 1:30-3 p.m. in the cafeteria, seniors can participate in Paws on the Wall, a school tradition moved from its usual spot at Club Crawl for the past two years. Seniors must have their school-issued ID to attend.
On Thursday, the theme is “Throwback Thursday,” where students should wear their grade level homecoming shirt, if they have one, or any other neon attire. Freshmen should wear yellow, sophomores wear orange, juniors wear green, and seniors wear pink. After school, the neon pep rally will start at 7 p.m. the stadium, and like all events, students must have their Minga ID to enter, and have the event permission slip filled out to attend. The permission slips are due by Oct. 23 at noon, and the event is for Hagerty students only.
To end dress up week, on Friday, the theme is “The One Where They All Come Home,” where students should go all out in their Hagerty gear. Freshman wear white, sophomores wear gray, juniors wear blue, and seniors wear black. The varsity football team will play Seminole High School at 7 p,m., and the homecoming court will also be announced at halftime. The cost to attend is $10, and a ticket can be purchased on Gofan. A QR code to purchase is also in the homecoming playbook.
“We’re organized. We have everything planned, and everybody’s scheduled,” Miller said. “We’re ready to go.”
