On Friday, October 19, there was an amazing homecoming rally that truly showed the talent Yorba Linda High School has. As students entered, they were given red and green finger lights to put on as the gym lights were dimmed. The theme was Nightmare before Christmas so the decorations looked spooky as they included different colored lights as well as pumpkins. Starting off with a video from the “Nightmare Before Christmas” movie, everybody in the gym became so excited; from students to teachers to families. Then Cooper Summers (12), Rebecca Tront (11), and Ben Weinraub (12) were trick or treaters looking for the homecoming king. Elise Bell (11) came up to the middle of the gym with an amazing performance singing the national anthem. Everyone else in the gym had chills as they stood up, looking at the flag and listening to the beautiful voice. After that, Cheer and Song entered the middle of the gym wearing white ripped shirts and red shorts. They performed to a Halloween-themed remix including classics such as Thriller, Monster Mash, and more.

Once the performance was over, a recap video of the YLHS fall season of various sports showed up. Athletes became excited when they saw themselves or their friends in the video. After that, the talented Dance Company came up with an amazing performance; they wore  black shirts and red pants with black knee pads as well as white masks. The dancers performed to a remix including the songs, Mask Off, Taste, and Goosebumps.

Finally, the homecoming court walked the red carpet.  For the freshman class, Riley Willis (9) and Jack Johnson (9) were the freshman princess and prince. Kendall Cook (10), Erin Benson (10), and Brandon Vega (10) walked together across the red carpet representing the sophomores. Juniors Erin Ramada (11) and Noah Camacho (11) also walked together and ended with a great handshake. At last, senior court was announced as well as the King. Lauren Bui (12), Regan Millsap (12), Carol Boghdadi (12), Hallie Haupert (12), and Mabel lRa (12) were running for Queen. Running for king were Wesley Dale (12), Tyler Padgett (12), Drew Barrymore (12), Ricky Lane (12), and Cameron Carlson (12). Once they all walked across the red carpet, a video was played revealing Ricky Lane (12) as Homecoming King. His friends described him to be funny, always making people laugh, talented, always smiling and in a good mood, and pleasure to be around. Ricky is on the varsity football and baseball team, enjoys country music, and thinks that if he was one thing in the kitchen, it would be tapatio. To end the rally, Hope Bean (10) sang the alma mater.

After asking a couple of students what they thought of the rally, I received many positive answers. Erica Casillas (12) loved the creativity of all the decorations and felt like the performers “shined and showed their talent.” Also, Nathaly Chavez (12) felt so happy that she was a part of “such a successful rally as [she] showed off her dance skills in the Dance

Company performance.” Clearly, the homecoming rally was one to remember!