School spirit surges during homecoming
Every school has its unique traditions. For Faith Christian High School, one of the biggest traditions is homecoming. And like virtually everything at Faith, our homecoming is a little different than at most schools.
For example, instead of a football game, our homecoming game is a basketball game. Instead of making and decorating floats, each class is assigned a theme and decorates a section of the hallway in accordance with that theme.
Each day, the classes compete in games during rallies, dress-up days, fundraising for a charity cause and finally performing skits based on their theme to win the most points and achieve the elusive Spirit Trophy.
Homecoming 2012's theme was classic cartoons. The freshmen chose Looney Tunes; the sophomores picked Scooby Doo; the juniors went with Peanuts; and the seniors chose the Justice League.
Each hallway featured themed decorations: The freshmen made a model Road Runner and Bugs Bunny; the sophomores hung ghosts from the ceiling and made a cardboard Mystery Machine; the juniors built Snoopy's doghouse and decorated the walls with strips from the comic; and the seniors made a "heroes hideout" filled with futuristic details and superhero designs.
The dress up days are always a favorite. Pajama Day, Nerd Day, Cowboy and Indian Day, Theme Day (in which students dress like their theme) and, finally, Blue and Gold Day were eagerly anticipated, and students put their all into making great costumes.
Homecoming night kicked off with the basketball games, where Faith students showed off their school spirit in blue and gold clothes, beads and even face paint. The cheerleaders' halftime routine was a huge hit, and the varsity games were both victories for the FCHS Lions.
The most anticipated event, however, was the announcement of the winners of the Spirit Trophy. The freshmen finished in fourth place, preceded by the sophomores in third place, leaving the victory in a close race between the juniors and seniors. The juniors prevailed, however, and the class of 2013 took home the victory.
The final event was the presentation of the homecoming court. The nominees were freshmen Tara George and Taylor Savage; sophomores Olivia Reed and Evan Treanor; juniors Abbie Rollins and Deep Bhatti; and seniors Lauren Heinrich, Alexandra Arnold, Courtney Taylor, Spencer Iskikian, Joshua Villasenor and Cody Warta.
The entire student body voted for the senior candidates who should be crowned homecoming king and queen; the winners were Courtney and Cody.
Homecoming is always a highlight of the school year. Senior homecoming court nominee Alexandra said, "My last homecoming was a great one — good, fun competition and a great time with my class.
"My favorite part was definitely being on homecoming court," Alexandra added. "Having to rush from a basketball game to getting all dressed up was quite an adventure. Personally, I'd rather wear basketball shoes than heels any day, but I don't think I would be allowed to do that!"
Sophomore Esther Phillips said of her first homecoming experience: "It was a blast! My favorite part was definitely the crazy school spirit."
Freshman Hannah Payne said, "Even though the classes were competing against each other, as a whole, our school has never felt so united. Homecoming was such a fun week, filled with lots of laughter, some tears (happy tears, of course) and tons of crazy competition."
Elizabeth Andrus is a senior at Faith Christian High School. Her column appears every six weeks in Education.
