With excitement for homecoming traditions, such as the dance and football game, students were able to enjoy an old tradition at the end of Homecoming Week, the Homecoming Rally. On Friday, Oct. 13, SCHS held their first homecoming rally in four years.
Students gathered in the main gym after their second period classes to enjoy the rally. Music filled the gym as students took their seats. ASB spirit reps, senior Miranda Gutirrez and junior Joann Smith, hyped up the crowd before asking everyone to stand for the national anthem, sung by senior Venice Ella Mayor.
After Mayor wrapped up the anthem, Smith and Gutierrez introduced the 2023 homecoming court. The king and queen nominees walked out with their escorts: Glaiza Mae Buenaflor with Kai Pham, Asher Dubin with Cheyenne De Guzman, Nadine Ngo with Ryan Raphael, Nicklaus Chui with Vanessa Delgado, Kennedy Rose Stiver with Matthew Van, Kyle Campbell with Aliana Ferreira, Noah Barlahan with Diya Desai, Romina Blanco with Sarah Honer, Kelly Winter with Nikhil Ramkrishnan and Sujay Ojha with Kendall Yee.
Previously, during the pandemic, the homecoming court was presented in the quad during lunch. Students would gather to watch the nominees and their escorts perform their personalized handshakes before getting their photo taken. ASB president and king nominee Dubin described his experience of being on court at his first homecoming rally.
“In past years, the court got introduced at lunch, but not everyone would get to watch the ceremony. Incorporating it as part of the rally gave us an opportunity to reach the whole student body,” Dubin said.
The spirit reps hyped up each grade for their homecoming skits before being presented to the school. Each skit lasted around five minutes with a designated theme. The freshman theme was Pokemon, sophomores Legos, juniors Hot Wheels and seniors Barbie. In the past, homecoming skits were presented during the tutorial period where it was optional for students to watch.
“Having a homecoming rally for both my first and last time this year was a unique experience,” Dubin said. “The live announcements of the skit and poster winners, plus the showing of the skits, gave everyone a chance to know what was going on.”
College and Career Resource Technician Anthony Butler announced the skit winners right after they were shown: freshman in fourth place, sophomores in third place, juniors in second place and seniors in first place.
Senior king nominee and event rep Kyle Campbell was proud of seniors for placing first in skit. Their Barbie themed skit brought laughter to the crowd with fighting and dancing scenes.
“I was glad to see us do well in the skit because it was clear the people involved had worked hard,” Campbell said.
Butler also revealed the class poster winners after each grade cheered for their rankings. Seniors placed fourth place, freshman placed third, sophomores placed second and juniors placed first.
After announcing the class winners, the band played “Go Big Blue” while the spirit squad and dance team performed. Per tradition, Butler led the SCHS alma mater to close the homecoming rally. Despite the quiet crowd as Butler sang, Smith appreciated the loud and hyped end results of the homecoming rally.
“I think the crowd at this homecoming was just a bit tired, but the rally was definitely a success overall,” Smith said.