By Sydney Case, Editor-in-Chief
From dressing up for Spirit Week to cheering in the stands under the Friday night lights, River Hill High School’s Homecoming week brought students together for a week full of school spirit, friendly competition and celebration. With themed outfits, energetic pep rally performances, a decisive football victory and a Hollywood-inspired dance, this year’s Homecoming gave students across all grade levels plenty of ways to get involved.
Spirit Week kicked off with the fun themes: Tropical Tuesday, Wicked Wednesday, Movie Thursday, and the week wrapped up with Class Color Shout.
For many students, the best part of Spirit Week was having the opportunity to coordinate outfits with friends and show off their class pride. Senior Marina Ronayne and her friends Alexis Fath and Anjana Chakrabarty all wore matching white bob wigs to stand out among the seniors.
“It was super fun because we all dressed up together, and the wigs made it even better,” Ronayne said. “It was such a funny way to celebrate Color Shout with my friends.”
The excitement continued into the Homecoming pep rally, where students gathered to celebrate River Hill’s fall sports teams and enjoy a series of games and performances. As each team was announced, athletes ran around the field to cheers from the crowd. The band helped set the tone with a performance before the competitions began.
Students then watched classmates take part in games including tug-of-war, noodle knockdown and a lively round of Simon Says. Each fall sports team selected a representative to compete in Simon Says.
Senior Alexander El Sawi, who represented boys varsity soccer, walked away as the winner. However, the game was not without its challenges, especially when contestants had to retrieve items from the audience.
“It got pretty rough when we had to go into the crowd to get stuff,” El Sawi said. “I may have trampled a couple of people trying to get a hair tie, but at least I won and got to represent boys soccer!”
Between the games, the pep rally featured performances from the poms and cheer teams, leading up to a final performance by the dance team. Behind the high-energy routines was weeks of preparation, early mornings and plenty of teamwork.
Senior Olivia Muzzatti reflected on the work that went into preparing for the performances.
“Preparing for the pep rally dance is always so much work, we had to wake up at 4 A.M two mornings in a row to practice on the turf before school,” Muzzatti said. “The music repeated itself at one point during the Junior Dance Company performance, but everyone corrected it so seamlessly. I don’t think many people even noticed. It makes me proud knowing we all had each other’s backs and were able to pull off a great performance.”
One of the most anticipated parts of the day was the annual Homecoming Powderpuff flag football game, where students from each grade took the field to represent their classes.
For junior quarterback Olivia Creighton, playing in the competition was an opportunity to experience the event from a completely different perspective.
“I loved playing, and it definitely lived up to my expectations,” Creighton said. “It was fun being part of the game this time, instead of just watching from the sidelines.”
Senior Annie Ribas said that cheering alongside her classmates and coming up with creative celebrations were some of her favorite parts of the competition.
“It was so much fun getting to cheer with everyone in my class,” Ribas said. “One of my favorite parts was doing celebrations with the team. When we scored seven points, we pretended to bench-press seven times, and we also had everyone sitting down on the sidelines rowing a boat. It was just really fun, especially since the game ended with the seniors winning!.”
As the week moved into Friday evening, students dressed in black clothing in preparation for the Homecoming football game. With a blackout theme filling the stands, River Hill faced off against the Long Reach Lightnings.
The night included the return of the popular “Kickin’ for Chicken” tradition. Two seniors, Emily Ma and Charlotte Laraway, teamed up for the challenge, with Laraway setting up the football and Ma making the field goal, resulting in free chick-fil-a chicken sandwiches.
While the halftime entertainment and crowd traditions added to the atmosphere, the main event was River Hill’s performance on the field. The Hawks dominated throughout the game, finishing with a commanding 35-7 victory over Long Reach.
For the players, the energy from the stands played a major role in making the night memorable. Senior Logan Shatzer, running back for the team, described how the crowd’s enthusiasm carried onto the field.
“I could hear everybody in the stands cheering and constantly making up chants,” Shatzer said. “It really hyped up the team and was a big part of our win.”
The victory gave students another reason to celebrate as the school prepared for the final event of Homecoming week.
Homecoming concluded Saturday night with a red-carpet-themed dance. Originally planned to take place on the turf, the dance was moved indoors after last-minute weather concerns brought rain, clouds and colder temperatures.
For many seniors, the dance was especially meaningful as one of their final high school Homecomings. Senior Will Fortune spent part of the day golfing with a few friends before getting ready for the evening. However, what he was most excited about was the opportunity to make the night memorable with his friends through their outfits.
“Since it’s senior year, we wanted to do something a little different and have fun with it,” Fortune said. “A bunch of us decided to wear crazy suits. I wore a South Park suit, Milan Shah wore a Mario suit, and Shyam Patel went with an Uncle Sam-inspired American suit.”
For other students, the excitement began long before arriving at the dance. Junior Caroline Urban described how she and her friends turned getting ready into an event of its own.
“Getting ready together is honestly one of my favorite parts,” Urban said. “We all bring different food for brunch, hang out, do our hair and makeup, and take a ton of pictures before heading to the dance. It makes the whole day feel special, not just the actual dance.”
Once inside, students enjoyed music from the DJ, danced with friends and took advantage of the photo booth to capture memories from the night. For freshman Noelle Cornell, the music and opportunity to spend time with friends made the evening especially enjoyable.
“It was so much fun,” Cornell said. “The DJ played really good music, and I had such a great time dancing with my friends. I am really looking forward to my future homecomings!”
The photo booth was another popular attraction, giving students a chance to take home reminders of the night. Sophomore Andy Cho said that capturing moments with friends was one of his favorite parts of the dance.
“I had a great time taking pictures in the photo booth,” Cho said. “Now I have permanent memories with my friends from Homecoming!”
With a week full of traditions, new memories and plenty of school spirit, this year’s Homecoming proved that the celebration was about more than just the dance. It was about the people, performances and shared experiences that made the entire week one to remember.