Homecoming is one of the most exciting and anticipated events of each school year. Although our students look forward to seeing the final product of our rallies, football games, and dances, lots of unseen work goes into planning each tiny detail behind the scenes. Backstage, our entire Associated Student Body (ASB) works hard to fill the Homecoming week with excitement and memorable moments. More specifically, our Senior Class officers– Maya Tsegaye (Senior Class President), Sydney Hendrie (Senior Class Vice President), and Natalia Soto (Senior Class Secretary/Treasurer)– lead the entire planning process, playing a pivotal role in the execution of Homecoming.
From decorating the gym for the rally to scripting the halftime show at the football game, the work that our ASB members spend making everything for the dance is worth months and months of effort and planning. In fact, our Homecoming theme was decided in June, which is also when our Senior Officers began the planning process. According to Maya Tsegaye (12), time management is one of the main challenges when planning an event as grand as Homecoming since “there are so many timelines to keep track of such as court voting, when posters need to be made, when decorations need to be ordered, and more, which can be hard to keep track of.”
This year, our theme for homecoming is entitled “A Night in the Bayou,” playing off of a “Princess and the Frog” theme. From hand-painting posters to designing the rally backdrop, every ASB member participates in making this theme come alive. Managing this level of detail requires serious coordination and thought from our Senior Officers. The theme has to be accounted for when thinking about photo booths, scripts for the rally and halftime show, advertisements for the dance, and more. Maya expressed what she is most excited about once the planning is all done and the Homecoming festivities begin by saying, “In regards to Homecoming, I am most excited to crown the Homecoming queen at the football game. We had been planning a fun way to do our queen reveal, and I cannot wait to see our queen’s reaction.”
However, ASB’s hard work does not end once the planning process ends and the rally begins that Friday morning before the dance. For the rally, football game, and actual homecoming dance, ASB members have to put in long nights of theming the gym for the rally, setting up all of the posters and backdrop for the stage at the homecoming game, and the morning of the dance ASB comes on campus to bring the Bayou to the quad. Every member of ASB has their role in organizing materials, choreographing dances, coming up with dress-up days, making innovative social media posts, and more, all of which help them make the event the best they can.
Natalia Soto (12), our Senior Secretary/Treasurer, expressed pride in the ASB team’s commitment, saying, “Homecoming planning has been going great behind the scenes, and I am so excited for all the homecoming events. Our ASB class has been working so hard to paint and build all of the decorations. I am so proud of all they are putting into this, and I hope they recognize how much effort they gave for this dance and feel as proud of themselves as I am.”
Even though Homecoming might seem like just one week of festivities to most of the student body, to our ASB class, it is truly months upon months of dedication, meticulous thought, and planning. From our rallies commissioners writing scripts and making dances to our athletics commissioners coming up with the best dress-up theme for our football student section, every ASB member plays a crucial role in bringing Homecoming to life. The Senior Officers and the entire ASB class’s dedication reflects the spirit that lives on campus here at Yorba Linda High School, and their efforts are not overlooked!
