What goes on in the preparation for hoco?
At AHS there are many students who work behind the scenes to get everything ready for homecoming. Alhambra High School has the leadership committee working on the floats for all grade levels, the marching band getting their songs ready for the parade, homecoming court getting all their dresses and suits ready to show off and so much more! Homecoming is a big part of high school that many look forward to and in this article we are going to explore all the stuff it takes to get ready for it.
The main strategy it takes to prepare a great homecoming are strong committees, something Alhambra high school has a lot of. Alhambra high is full of so many committees that do a lot more than people realize to prepare for homecoming. One of those committees is leadership. The leadership committee is one of the main committees because they have a role in just about everything homecoming. The spirit week, the parade, posters, themes, ticket sales and a lot more. The Dogwatcher interviewed Mrs Griffin, the director of the leadership committee, and asked her how early do they have to start preparing for this big event? Griffin replied with, “We start getting ready the year before. March is when we choose the themes.” The leadership committee goes through a long and extensive process to choose the themes in March. The newly elected ASB officers and class officers for the next year meet and discuss a theme that meets Mrs. Griffin’s requirements and then each class chooses a category within the theme. First senior, then junior, sophomore, and lastly freshmen.
Another group of high school students that has to do a lot in the preparation for homecoming is the Alhambra High School band. The band performs a lot of music over the course of homecoming week and between the rallies and the parade it’s hard to figure out how they get it all done! The dogwatcher asked Landon Poston, a senior at Alhambra and one of the conductors to the AHS band, what is the hardest part of getting ready for homecoming when it comes to the band? Poston replied with, “Probably making sure everyone knows what they’re supposed to be doing when it comes to their music.” This is a challenging task that the band members conquer and it results with amazing music.
The AHS cheerleaders are also a big part of the homecoming experience. With the parade, game and rally they perform a lot of routines that take focus and concentration to learn. To learn these routines they practice 5 times a week just to get them down. The dogwatcher asked Savannah Lewis, a senior at AHS and a member of the homecoming court, just how much preparation goes into the routine specified for homecoming? Lewis replied with, “It takes about 2-3 weeks plus practice on weekends to get the performance down.” When performing it shows just how hard they’ve been working and it all pays off. Lots of students love and enjoy watching the cheerleaders perform.
Color guard also goes unrecognized for all the work they put into making sure all of their performances for hoco are perfect. Color guard performs about 18 routines throughout the span of homecoming week. To get their performances ready Brynn Siebenrock and Eva Shreve, seniors and the captains of colorguard, help come up with the perfect choreography for the week. The dogwatcher interviewed Eva Shreve and asked how long does it take to come up with one routine? Shreve replied with, “It depends on the routine but it usually takes about 1-2 hours on average.” This is how long it takes to come up with just one routine so it’s a good thing color guard is willing to put in time to get their performances just right for the students’ entertainment.
Last but not least the ASB officers are a huge part of homecoming. Without them homecoming wouldn’t be the same. They help choose the theme and they guide all of leadership in the right direction so AHS can have the best homecoming possible. Within the ASB officers there is Luna Buckman, the president, Ella Spars, vice president, Shyanne Singh, secretary, and Isabella Gaspar the treasurer. The dogwatcher asked Luna Buckman, what is the most difficult thing the ASB officers have to do for homecoming? Buckman replied, “I would say the hardest thing for us officers is that you’re so worried about making the dance and parade so good and special for everyone else that sometimes you forget to have fun yourself.” Thankfully the ASB officers are willing to make this sacrifice so AHS can have a great, and well ran homecoming.
All of these committees are how AHS has such a great homecoming every year. Between the leadership committee, the band, cheerleading, colorguard, the ASB officers, and not to mention all of the other clubs and committees that have to get stuff ready for homecoming, Alhambra really does have all of the key ingredients to making a great homecoming.