The first homecoming in 11 years took place last Friday, October 21st! The dance took place in the ORHS Multi-Purpose Room from 7-10:30 pm with a DJ, food, dancing, and the crowning of the homecoming court.
Even if a lot of the students didn’t have prior knowledge of homecoming, the planning committee still put in a lot of work to make it a memorable night. Siena Schaier (‘24) was one of the leading members of the homecoming committee. She wanted to have a homecoming at Oyster River because “I saw all these other schools having homecoming and our school never had one. I thought it would be fun to have one this year!”
Schaier also continued about how the dance would be beneficial for the underclassmen who still have a few years to wait for prom. “I’m a junior, so I’ll get a prom, but the underclassmen never get the chance to get any dances. I think it would be fun to let them have a taste of what the juniors and seniors get.”
The theme of the homecoming was Starry Night. The motivation behind this? “We wanted to reuse [decorations]. There used to be a dance called the Snowball in the winter and [the school] has all the old decorations from that in the library, so we thought we could reuse the lights and other things to do Starry Night.” Says Schaier.
However, this is not just a student effort. Rebecca Noe, Oyster River High School principal, was the Homecoming Committee advisor. Even though Noe was the advisor, she really wanted the students to be taking the initiative for the homecoming. “They had a schedule to follow…they had to talk to Mr. Lathrop about what dates work out, picking out the decorations, could they have a DJ that can be school appropriate, all that stuff.”
The teachers were also excited for the students to have a good night. Adam Lacasse, an economics and business teacher at Oyster River, was one of the staff members who chaperoned the dance. He said, “I liked to see the students dress up and live life for a day. It’s also nice to see the students out of the classroom.”
While this dance is for the whole school, mostly the underclassmen attended, excited for their first real high school dance. Sophie Durant (‘25) attended with a group of friends and they were all super excited. Durant says, “They put a good amount of decorations up and had good music.”
The dance certainly delivered. The night was filled with dancing, memories, and a homecoming court. Grace Kasper (‘25) was the homecoming princess this year. She said, “I think dancing with everyone and being in that group setting was awesome.”
Costas Frangos (‘24) was a member of the homecoming court. While he did enjoy himself, he said, “I wish there was a little more than just a dancing area…But the school raised a lot of money from this, and I see it being a regular tradition.”
Mike McCann was also at the dance chaperoning, and he thinks the same thing. While kids will be kids and can get a little crazy, he said, “I think overall it was a very positive environment and the students had a great time…As long as the students want to do it [it will be a regular tradition].”
I think all staff and students alike can agree that for the first homecoming at Oyster River in a long time, the dance was planned well, executed well, and the students will see a return of the homecoming next year!
Picture from @orhs.hoco