With a school holiday on the Monday of Homecoming week, students had a chance to get ready for dress-up days and come up to the campus when it opened for hall decorating. As usual, a pep rally week meant there were spirit sticks up for grabs, and all four classes wanted to increase their numbers.
“It was fun watching the students work on their halls without the usual time-crunch,” librarian Melonie Menefee said. “They were having fun, too; eventually, we had to close the doors and send them home, but it was great watching them work together.”
Every day of the week, there were dress-up days for students to show their school spirit and to get pumped up for the homecoming game on Friday.
“Elaine, Kaline and I went to Palestine on Monday to buy some things we would need for the week. We went throughout the whole store but we had no luck in finding leis; thankfully, Kaline had some we could borrow,” senior Kayla Saenz said. “We had a good time before the busy week ahead of us.”
Tuesday was Hawaiian Day, with students coming with festive Hawaiian shirts and colorful leis. The hallways were flooded with students dressed as if they were going on vacation.
“I made my own Hawaiian shirt,” junior Glori Cozart said. “It had coconuts and a skirt with a fake pop-out flower. It literally took me five minutes to make.”
USA Day was on Wednesday and was filled with red, white and blue. Students went out of their way with American socks, hats, bandanas, colored leggings and even flags.
“I went all out without even realizing it. I had a red, white and blue jacket, shirt and shoes,” junior Thomas Grissett said. “I liked that I got to show my country’s colors.”
On Thursday, students switched up their style for Opposite Day: girls dressed like guys and guys dressed like girls. The gender swap allowed students to get out of their comfort zone and have fun while exaggerating and stereotyping the opposite gender.
“I thought it was really cool that we were allowed to dress like the opposite gender. I went with the stereotypical frat boy,” freshman Emily Rodriguez said. “I had to buy some clothes, but the rest were things I got from my brother’s closet.”
Friday was Pink Out. Along with the Pink Out hallways, students showed school spirit by wearing pink shirts along with the requisite mums.
“I went all out and bought a tutu and a pair of pink wings to show support for breast cancer. I always love Pink Out because I love showing support for breast cancer survivors,” senior Josie Henson said. “I was sad but glad I got to participate in my last homecoming week.”
