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?
Max • Nov 13, 2024 at 7:13 pm
I wish I didn’t miss homecoming. Will be going next year.
Noah • Nov 12, 2024 at 9:03 am
I didn’t go to homecoming but this is a good story. Maybe I’ll go next year
Brianna • Nov 11, 2024 at 4:57 pm
the homecoming seamed so fun! i didnt go but maybe i will next time. the article is very well written and it gives a good description.
mya • Nov 8, 2024 at 1:34 pm
I didnt go to homecoming this year but I loved this story. I will definitly be attending next year
Andrea L • Nov 8, 2024 at 12:05 pm
next year i would definitely go to homecoming it sounds so much fun and really unforgettable
Alma Calev • Nov 8, 2024 at 11:42 am
homecoming sounds so much fun this article is very well written I loved it.
Giada • Nov 8, 2024 at 11:24 am
I like this article alot, spirit day was fun especially the workout Wednesday. Another thing I noticed was the football game losing.
lianna • Nov 8, 2024 at 10:02 am
this article is great! the homecoming seamed so fun!! this is a very well written article
Kyle • Nov 8, 2024 at 7:52 am
It looked like an amazing event. I’m glad Olympic Heights makes an effort to bring everyone together to celebrate and have fun.
amarah • Nov 7, 2024 at 9:42 pm
homecoming looked very fun. the article is well written and descriptive.
Nathaly • Nov 7, 2024 at 4:24 pm
Good informative article. I didn’t go to homecoming, but it seems like it was fun!
Hailey • Nov 7, 2024 at 12:08 pm
I didn’t go to the homecoming dance, but I went to the homecoming football game. The game was fun, and the food trucks were so good. I got tacos wey and it’s my favorite now, I also thought the school showed so much school spirit and they showed it in an amazing way.
Deangelo Barrera • Nov 7, 2024 at 11:55 am
Looks like homecoming was a very fun event! It’s great that it was able to bring friends together to have a great time.
mark pinto • Nov 7, 2024 at 11:55 am
i’ve always thought a homecoming would be fun and I think I would have had I great time if I went…butttt it was a second week and I had no friends sooo yeah but probably next year
Joel Mizrachi • Nov 7, 2024 at 11:41 am
It’s a shame that the cost of going to homecoming has been rising to the point that fewer students are going. The SGA should implement new activities so that you don’t “just stand there,” as some students say. Good Article.
Brianna Williams • Nov 7, 2024 at 11:41 am
I like how the Homecoming dance theme was based off of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. I like how at the football game they had multiple different food truck options for people to eat ate.
Leah • Nov 7, 2024 at 11:34 am
I like how the author focused on the fun parts of homecoming but also on the idea that many students don’t get excited about the dance. It’s good to cover both sides.
Max • Nov 7, 2024 at 11:31 am
The story was okay, although it felt incomplete with a lack of interesting quotes and topics. Although the different costumes for each day of the week were interesting.
Izzy • Nov 7, 2024 at 11:20 am
I enjoyed this article very much and how there were opinions on homecoming from seniors. I also enjoyed the outline of the homecoming football game.
tyler s. • Nov 7, 2024 at 11:20 am
Interesting timeline of events! ive never been big into school events but reading this has interested me in this schools activities. by the detail of events around homecoming, there’s no doubt tons of editors were grouped to chronicle said week.
marissa • Nov 7, 2024 at 11:19 am
ii didn’t go but i heard it was so much fun! cant wait to see what they do next year.
Catherine • Nov 6, 2024 at 11:53 am
I didn’t go to homecoming this year but it seems like it was so much fun and a great place for students to get to know each other!
Maxim Makushkin • Nov 6, 2024 at 11:49 am
great article! Though I didn’t go to the homecoming because I think there is nothing to do there
Mattias • Nov 6, 2024 at 11:45 am
This story was written well. Im interested in seeing what the next spirit week will look like.
ari • Nov 6, 2024 at 11:39 am
such a great read I feel like it demonstrated how fun the production of Homecoming is . I love how everything was explained and the pictures go lions!
el • Nov 6, 2024 at 11:37 am
Homecoming did seem fun from what one of my friends has said to me but only one friend of mine went so I didn’t go for that reason. I’ll go next year if enough people go to it because maybe it was as fun as people said it was this year. Hopefully, next year will be good and I’ll go.
Lara • Nov 6, 2024 at 11:35 am
This is a great story! homecoming is always such a great experience
Audrey H • Nov 6, 2024 at 11:28 am
Love this article. Homecoming looked like so much fun.
ngan • Nov 6, 2024 at 11:23 am
Even though I did not go to homecoming it looked very fun and cool. I went to the pep rally and the events were fun to watch. Also, I’ve seen a lot of people with nice outfits for spirit week
chase • Nov 6, 2024 at 11:22 am
All the food trucks before the football game were great. SGA did a great job with spirit week.
Brielle Crawley • Nov 6, 2024 at 11:19 am
This is very well written, and I liked the facts like the history of the olympics and the toga. I didn’t enjoy homecoming personally, but this put a positive spin on it