Every year, Olympic Heights students impatiently await for homecoming week to roll around – and luckily this year they didn’t need to wait very long. The 2024 OH homecoming fell on Friday, September 6th, with the theme “Olympics at Olympic Heights” since the 2024 Paris Olympics had occurred just weeks prior. However, homecoming isn’t just about the dance: There’s an entire week of build up including spirit days, a pep rally, and the homecoming football game to generate excitement from the study body.    

The week of homecoming kicked off with four spirit days, determined by the Student Government (SGA).  This year’s spirit week began with Monday off due to Labor day, giving students a long weekend to relax and spend time with friends and family. On Tuesday, students returned to campus dressed in togas, or more commonly, white, for Toga Tuesday. The togas paid homage to the roots of the Olympics, which began in ancient Greece, where togas were the common dress of the time. On Workout Wednesday, students were seen wearing athletic attire or practice wear to reference Olympic athletes. Trophy Thursday called for each grade to wear their class colors for the pep rally held during the last period of the day; freshmen wore white, sophomores wore black, juniors wore yellow, and seniors wore black and gold. Finally, the week ended off with Fan Friday, in which students were encouraged to wear a sports jersey to support their favorite teams.

The day before the homecoming dance, a pep rally was held where Mr. and Mrs. OH, Jacob Starr and Bayla Hirsh, led various performances and competitions. Volunteers from the crowd were selected to participate in the challenges, generating enthusiasm from the audience to see peers competing against one another in events such as a tricycle race or a “finish the lyrics” challenge. “It was funny seeing people have to pedal and especially funny when they fell off too,” said Gabriella Pujols, a senior at OH. “It was also a nice bonus that the seniors won,” she continued. To end off the pep rally, homecoming court winners for each grade except seniors are announced. Homecoming king and queen nominees were revealed at the pep rally, and the winners were crowned at the football game later that day.  Congratulations to seniors Amelia Welch and Jacob Starr for receiving the most votes from the student body to win the coveted titles! 

The football gate opened with a tailgate, where numerous food trucks lined up for endless options to grab a pre-game bite. Some food truck participants included Tacos Wey, Marco’s Burgers, Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, and Healthy Churro. “It was pretty hot out, but the food was really good,” Olympic Heights junior Ryan Loeb said when asked about the night’s festivities. The Lions fought hard, though we were unfortunately defeated during the homecoming football game.

Homecoming is an event in which students can enjoy a night of fun surrounded by friends, music, and dancing. The gymnasium was decorated with various Olympic themed photo opportunities, along with a photo booth and plenty of food. However, student excitement for homecoming has been waning over the years – and as of recently, many chose to skip homecoming and stay home or go straight to the afterparty instead, which is truly disheartening as the SGA works hard to put together the event for students to have a night full of memories. The reason for the decline of homecoming attendance can be attributed to the cost of tickets ($60) in addition to expenses associated with the purchase of fancy attire and dinner beforehand.  Some high schoolers have a different attitude. Some upperclassmen believe the dance is more targeted for lowerclassmen, and others believe the dance is just simply not worth attending. “[Students] feel like … there’s nothing to do. There’s not really anything exciting about it, you just go there, [and] you dress up,” OH senior Aarushi Reddy commented when being asked why she believed student attendance at homecoming was staggering recently. “It’s the getting ready [for it] part and the idea of going that’s good,” Reddy continued.  It can be a bit awkward at first because sometimes students just stand around in the gym, even though there’s music playing.  Luckily, there are some familiar faces in the crowd, which can help alleviate anxiety leading up the the dance. 

Torch readers, let us know:  Did you attend the 2024 homecoming dance?