#1StudentNWI: Hobart High School’s Homecoming Spirit Reaches Beyond the End Zone

#1StudentNWI: Hobart High School’s Homecoming Spirit Reaches Beyond the End Zone

Homecoming Week at Hobart High School
Homecoming means a guaranteed week of excitement and school spirit at the home of purple and gold: Hobart High School. Homecoming is one of the most anticipated school events for NWI schools, especially in the Hobart community.

This year, the homecoming week activities and spirit days took place the week of October third through the eighth. This year’s overall spirit theme, “Brickies Got Game”, was displayed through creative board game-based handmade decorations. Hallways and locker bays were decorated from ceiling to floor and flooded with students dressed in the theme.

Enthusiastic students had a spirit week of board game-themed attire to look forward to, planned by the students and staff of Booster Club. To kick the week off with a comfortable start, Monday was Pajama day, mirroring “Candyland Dreams.” The themes that followed included Battleship: Pirates and Sailors, The Game of Life Career Day, and Connect 4 Quadruplet Day. To break the board game theme, the highly anticipated Purple and Gold Superfan theme was set for Friday. Masses of students dressed from head to toe in their boldest school colors and were more than ready to display school spirit during the pep rally.

Hobart-1Student-October-2016_02 The themes had student involvement at an impeccable high. The sophomore class beat all other grade levels, including the seniors, by theme day participation. Because of this, the sophomore class won the sought after “Spirit Brick”, and achieved the title of most spirited. This came as a shock for some, since Hobart seniors are known to take the cake when it comes to spirit week involvement. Fortunately, this surprising class of 2019 victory gives next year’s senior class even more determination to gain back the Spirit Brick.

Following the pep rally, Hobart sports teams, clubs, and homecoming candidates took to the streets in floats and cars decorated for the annual homecoming parade. The procession started at Hobart Middle school and followed down Main Street.

The contest for “best float in show” ended up being awarded to the Theatre department’s float, based around the game “Mouse Trap”. The theatre department was more than overjoyed to celebrate their fourth consecutive win. The theatre students put in nearly a week of work to create their award-winning float, incorporating hand painted game pieces and a mix of wire and garland to appear as mouse traps. The students sitting on the float dressed in mouse ears and bright colors to appear as game pawns themselves.

Hobart-1Student-October-2016_03 The spirit week and parade all took place to build anticipation and Brickie pride leading up to Friday October 7th, which was the heated homecoming football game against Hammond Morton High School. Hobart took the win in an intense 12-35 victory against their homecoming game rivals: the Hammond Morton Governors.

Varsity football runningback and linebacker Nick Ray said,“the team has had a lot of success lately and came into the homecoming game very confident.”

Ray added “we expected to win, but made sure we didn’t take the opponents lightly”.

Hobart-1Student-October-2016_04 The regal homecoming court was also announced at the homecoming game, with students Cece Castillo and Gio Galloway taking the throne of King and Queen, as well as Madeline Palichuk and Dante Colza as Princess and Prince.

“Winning homecoming princess my junior year such a great experience,” said Palichuk. “Being able to sit in the convertible in the parade and walk across the field at the game alongside my closest friends who were nominated with me is going to be very memorable.”

Hobart-1Student-October-2016_05 Spirit in the spotlight: Jordan Perryman
Homecoming week is so successful at Hobart High School due to its immense student involvement. To prepare for the entertaining week, the Special Education program students created various purple and gold items. These items were sold all week during lunches to raise money for the special ed classroom.

Each year, these students sell various brickie beaded bracelets, magnets, pins, and necklaces to get the student body ready for the week and give everyone the opportunity to represent some stylish school colors.

Junior Jordan Perryman is loved by his classmates for his creativity and positive ideas. Making these bracelets was a busy time for him, but the work paid off because of happy peers and business experience gained.

In regards to his favorite highlights of the week, Perryman said, “my favorite part of homecoming is everything. The homecoming game, the pep rally, making bracelets, and making money. It’s a lot of fun. All the cheerleaders love our bracelets. The Wolffgang chorus said we did an amazing job. They love our bracelets and to me that’s amazing. We make a lot of money, and we impress a lot of people.”

When speaking about the bracelet sales, Perryman said, “we made a lot of money. It’s shocking. I started making bracelets my freshman year when my teachers came up to me and asked if I would do it for homecoming. Of course I said sure. We made $105 my first year, $135 my sophomore year, and at the end of this week we made $179. I was amazed. People love my ideas and my classmates do too.”

Perryman looks forward to the plans within his classroom thanks to the money he and his peers raised.

Perryman has further fundraising plans, too. Perryman added, “we’re doing this for our classroom so we have money for field trips and so that we can explore. I really want to donate the money we made. I’ve been thinking about that a long time. I’d really like to donate the money to who needs it the most.:

Whether it be his work in bracelet sales, or the positivity he brings his classmates each and every day, Perryman is one of Hobart High School’s best.