A Successful Week!

Every year I approach the week of Homecoming with trepidation. Although it typically goes well, I'm never really at peace until about this time...Sunday evening when the week is over.

I guess it only makes sense that when you intentionally get kids excited and near the point of exhaustion, the setting is ripe for accidents to happen. Add in the fact that competition among the classes is part of the design, and teenagers will sometimes make choices that are harmful to others.

Fortunately, we were able to avoid any major pitfalls in 2008. The students were very good throughout the school day, at the parade and game, and at the dance. As a matter of fact, I took some time to visit classrooms on Friday before the assembly, and you wouldn't have even known it was Spirit Week. Students and teachers were on-task and fully engaged in the lessons at hand. All in all, I was very proud of the student behavior.

We had a great turnout at the dance last night. I don't have a final count of students in attendance, but I know that more than 1200 tickets were sold before they went on sale on Friday. And from my vantage point, all of them appeared to have a great time.

Homecoming at South is a big venture. There are countless students and parents that work extremely hard to pull it off. A certain segment of students from each of the classes invest an incredible amount of time into the Homecoming festivities. They have watched older brothers and sisters enjoy the excitement of Spirit Week and they want to uphold the tradition.

The people that deserve to be thanked are too numerous to mention. It begins with the class sponsors, both parents and teachers. This group of adults put in countless hours of supervision and many open their homes to the students. The hosts of the float parties go out of their way to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable. Students are protected, entertained, and leave well nourished.

Particular thanks must go out to Dan Dickson, our Student Association president. Dan is a very effective organizer who leads by example. His fingerprints were left on all aspects of Homecoming and he led the charge to make meaningful improvements to the traditions we have held for many years.

I'm not sure of the particular reason, but it seemed that more parents than ever were complimentary of the events of Spirit Week. And I believe we are all thankful that a community like ours can put together healthy entertainment like this for our school community. However, I'd be lying if I said I wish it wasn't over.