Homecoming court is a tradition for many schools all over the country and is something lots of kids love to attend. Our homecoming court will be celebrated on Friday September 26 during halftime at the home football game against Cheyenne East.
Student Council organizes homecoming every year, determining the theme and the school dress up days leading up to homecoming. This year, the homecoming week dress up days are: Adam Sandler day, rhyme without reason, western, twin day, and the theme of this year’s homecoming is safari. Fun spirit days encourage students to participate in school spirit and attend the homecoming football game and dance.
Students can vote for their pick of homecoming queen and king for each grade through NCHS’s Instagram page or QR codes around the building and input who they think should win. Student Council advisors will then go through and pick the top 10 voted candidates and make a new QR code for students to scan to choose who they want to win.
After the court is selected, the Freshman Baron and Baroness, Sophomore Duke and Dutchess, Junior Prince and Princess, and Senior King and Queen will be crowned at the homecoming assembly.
This year is no different than previous years in the respect that competition for the crown is high. “I think it’d be really cool, ‘cause I feel like I’m really integrated with all sorts of different aspects of the community. I feel like if someone could represent it, I’d love to be that kind of person,” said senior Abigail George. George is running for Homecoming Queen and is a recognizable student due to her activities in cheer, DECA, Key Club, and Student Council.
According to NC Yearbook teacher Carl Myers, homecoming originated as a celebration for military units coming home after long deployments. It is an ancient tradition, but modern versions of it started at universities in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. One of the oldest ongoing homecoming traditions can be found at Baylor University in Texas, where they date their annual homecoming celebration back to 1909, when President Samuel Palmer Brooks thought of the idea to invite former students back for a soirée with a band, reception, class reunions, and a football game.
Over time, homecoming has expanded from a soirée to welcome back former students, to a yearly school tradition with themes, a homecoming court, and a football game. “Today we don’t just celebrate football, though. It’s a time when we celebrate everybody in the school, in all their activities and all their sports in our community,” said Myers.
The idea of a homecoming court arose later in the 20th century. Today, students vote on who they want their homecoming king and queen to be, and at the reception, the chosen individuals are crowned in front of everyone and have their picture taken. Many schools around the country have adopted this yearly tradition and about 150 million kids attend the dance every year.
