Last week, on Oct. 1, the homecoming court paraded down the Raider Valley during the game’s halftime. That Saturday, Oct. 2, there was a dance to celebrate the crowned winners: the queen, senior Tori Leo, and the king, senior Dylan Lyerly.

“There were many unknown factors that we tried to plan for, and we haven’t had a dance in over two years. So the fact that we were able to have so many participants attend and stay for as long as they did, we thought it was very successful,” said Heather Transue, the sponsor of the Student Council. When asked if she was proud of the way the event turned out, Transue expressed that “with the past years causing issues due to Covid-19, it seems almost a miracle that an event like this was even possible.”

“It was a unique experience since it was outside for the first time,” she continued as she described the Homecoming dance further. The dance being outside helped allay fears of contracting Covid-19 and gave the attendees much more space than they would’ve had inside. It was also the first time having food trucks, which turned out to be popular and contributed to adding variety. She plans to continue it this way as a tradition since the feedback she had received from both teachers and students were positive.

Transue described the most memorable part of Homecoming as well. They had done confetti poppers, and after the last song played, the DJ signaled for surprise guests to pop the confetti poppers. Anybody who wasn’t at the dance floor when that happened started running over, cheering for the confetti.

It all starts at the beginning of the year with Raider Time nominating court members. After that, they go through the entire election process to crown a winner that night. Planning starts with the next school year too. They have to book DJs, make and order decorations and coordinate with food trucks. On the day of Homecoming, they were on campus from 7 a.m. right up to the dance, and afterward, there was a cleanup period. “…So it’s our largest event and our busiest time of the year,” she explained.

The other winners include freshman princess Madison Stokes, sophomore princess Ava Droze and junior Lindsey Head. King and Queen runner-ups are Kooper Martin and Bailey Hilliard. Congratulations to this year’s Homecoming winners!