By Valeria Rojas
Last week was all about celebrating Homecoming and which nominee will when the title of Homecoming Queen. Students dressing up according to the theme, building their float for their clubs and voting for their favorite nominee but what about the teachers and their say on Homecoming?
Celebrating Homecoming was different from the way it is now. The way it went down was Top 10 nominees were announced and then they would sit down to do an interview with teachers, staff and advisers to see if they were the right choice to be in the Top 5. Then once the Top 5 were announced, the students voted for who will be our Homecoming Queen. The parade we have on Homecoming Day used to be at the Bowl and not on Main Street. A lot has changed since then.
Mrs. Galvan, the Drama teacher, has been working here for 25 years and knows a thing or two about how Redwood celebrated homecoming, “Back then, it was more about defeating our rival. I remember we would make a replica of the other school’s mascot and then tear it up. Today, it’s about promoting Redwood and the clubs on campus, there’s way more students involved in homecoming and it’s about celebrating school spirit in a positive way”
Mrs. Blair, a Math teacher, has been working here for 10 years and will never forget how she handled her first homecoming, “I gave a test on homecoming! I was so naive…because I had younger students (aka underclassmen) and my classes were so big so I didn’t see a problem with few students gone, but other teachers were saying “You gave a test today!? What were you thinking?” I didn’t how big of a day it was.” Now, most teachers understand the importance and the chaos of homecoming. She even sees the changes in the way we select our homecoming queen.
“Now it seems that the students who are more involved in every aspect of school are the students being crowned which is neat because it still focuses on not just the girl but what kind of student she is”
Mrs. Blair
Mr. Eskridge, an Econ/Civics and AP Euro teacher, has been working here for 4 years and he fairly enjoys homecoming, “I really enjoy the dress up days and being able to participate like I used to do in high school.”
I asked Mr. Eskridge if Homecoming still promotes the idea of school spirit or has it turned into more of a popularity contest, “When it comes down to it, I still see it as celebrating school spirit, but that element of it being a popularity contest has always been there at least when I look back when I was in high school.”
Mr. Cazarez, a US History/Geogography teacher, has been working here for 5 years and even he sees a difference between the way we celebrate Homecoming from then and now, “Homecoming 4 years ago, my first year working here was different because the regulations were looser and we saw larger than life activities and rallies, but I do see improvements from last year and the year before that because we’re learning from past mistakes. I like what we’re doing, especially the rallies.”
He also sees Homecoming as an opportunity for students to have a voice, “I always tell students that they should turn up to vote in all elections both political and student run elections. We have to make sure that all students have a voice rather than a just small majority making the decisions and that’s usually the students who are more involved and have access to resources that others may not have.”
“The biggest hurdle with any student run election is not everyone is in the know of what is happening around school. When people don’t know, they don’t vote, and when they don’t vote, they complain”
Mr. Cazarez
The bottom line is, Homecoming does promote school spirit, but there’s no denying that there is the factor of it being a popularity contest. However, like any other school event, it’s a fun time for everyone to come together and have a great time.
Valeria Rojas
Tags: homecoming, opinion, Redwood, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, teacher, visalia ca
