Homecoming week started on Friday, Oct. 7, and ended Saturday, Oct. 15. On Monday, students had no school, and Tuesday was a virtual learning day. Wednesday of that week was PSAT Day, and Pajama Day. Therefore, the first date was a Friday to extend the spirit days, for which the theme was ‘Holi-day.’ Senior activities and the pep rally were also held on Wednesday. The Homecoming parade was Thursday after school, and the Homecoming game was Friday night. Homecoming court was announced at halftime. This year’s homecoming week was particularly unusual, not only due to the surrounding events that added to the already eventful week, but also due to the number of mixed opinions about the varying activities swirling around McIntosh.

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“I think that the costume days are going to be fun and I’m really excited for the homecoming parade, and to see all of the different neon-themed floats,” Marissa Tapiz, a senior, said.

The pep rally was the first since fall 2019, and the stands became packed as the Spirit of McIntosh drumline played. The competition cheerleaders performed their routine and the Chiefettes performed a hip-hop routine. Fall athletes were recognized, as was McIntosh’s Teacher of the Year Bree Heaton. The highlight of the pep rally was the cheerleaders, Chiefettes, and faculty performing the viral TikTok dance “Supersonic.”

“As for the pep rally, it was pretty good. I probably have a bias because I was a part of the pep rally but it was fun to see some school spirit,” Casarez said.

Tapiz also had high hopes for the Homecoming Dance.

“I think that the theme is more simple, but I definitely feel like it’ll have a lot more decoration opportunities and I’m hoping to see glow sticks, and maybe some purple lights, and the dance usually gets chaotic, but I feel like it’ll be a fun time and the administration and the student body really do a good job with decorations and activities.”

But there were also concerns about how packed the week was.

“You know, I’m a little worried [because] we don’t have Monday, and Tuesday is virtual learning, and then we have PSAT. I’m a little bit worried with what they’re going do with the Homecoming week, since…it feels like we’ve had a lot cut out of the week,” Vaughn Casarez, a senior, said.

Junior Campbell Leatherman, after the week was over, mirrored this sentiment.

“I think I had more fun last year, since this year [spirit week] wasn’t all in the same week,” Leatherman said.

After the week/dance had ended, there were mixed opinions. Tapiz expressed some disappointment.

“I think the Homecoming dance didn’t go as well as expected. I liked the theme and decorations, the cool light setup, and glow sticks. However, it was more crowded and the music wasn’t good at all,” Tapiz said.

But some students felt the dance went well.

“I think it was great, they did a great job setting up,” Ellie Harris, a freshman, said.

Or, that it at least lived up to what they expected.

“I had a really good time. I liked being with my friends, but everyone was really sweaty as expected. I think it was pretty much what I expected,” junior Jenna Paynter said.

Leatherman agreed. “The Homecoming dance went pretty good, it was exactly like I thought it would be,” Leatherman said.

The one topic that came up often about the Homecoming dance was the music.

“The music was really good, I thought they weren’t going to play music that I would like but they did and it was great,” Harris said.

Leatherman, who had been to last year’s Homecoming dance, felt the music was improved.

“There was better music this year,” Leatherman said.

However, Luki Trevisan, a freshman, disagreed.

“The music was really bad, but everything else went really well, the music was just kind of a letdown,” Trevisan said.

Tapiz also felt there was some lack of participation in the spirit week dress-up days.

“For Holi-day, I didn’t see as many costumes, especially with certain grade levels. I personally didn’t see a lot of people dress up, but I thought PJ day was really fun and comfy, even though a lot of people skipped [that day].”

Casarez agreed. “There were not as many people as I was expecting for character day,” Casarez said.

Overall, many students did participate and there was a lot of school spirit.

For the students who did participate, the week seemed to go well.

“[Spirit week] was fantastic! I participated every single day…The parade was really cool, I liked the candy and the floats,” Harris said.

Homecoming Week had its highs and lows, but it is undeniably that there was a high student turnout (with over a thousand tickets sold) who danced the night away.

“There were some things I didn’t like, but that’s always going to happen, and overall I had a really good time and the energy was really fun and exciting at the dance,” Leatherman said.