Homecoming Week. It’s a tradition that many people look forward to every school year. What many people do not know is that there is a long history behind the actual tradition, and there is also some unique evidence of that special tradition here at BBCHS. 

According to Seventeen.com, Homecoming has been around for quite some time, and was exclusive to both colleges and universities before taking high schools by storm. “Homecoming began at colleges, as a celebration for the first football game of the season, where alumni would come back to visit their former campuses. According to Broadly, while no one is positive which college officially started the tradition, the University of Missouri, Baylor University, and the University of Illinois all claim to have started hosting homecoming events in 1911, 1909, and 1910, respectively.” After colleges began to host homecoming events, the festivity had spread to other colleges and high schools, with each school placing their own specific twist to the tradition.

Much like other high schools, Homecoming week has been a tradition at BBCHS since its establishment in 1941, and still continues to this day. During Homecoming week, there are five spirit days for every school day in order to motivate students to express their school spirit. This year’s homecoming week took place between September 30 and October 4 (Oct. 5 if you count the Homecoming dance) and contained spirit days such as Sports Day, Generation Day, Vine / Meme day, Class Clash day, and Boiler Spirit day. In addition to the various spirit days, there are also a homecoming assembly, parade, and football games, such as the Friday night football game and the Powder Puff football game. The Homecoming dance has been an integral part of Homecoming Week for a while. During the early days of the 40s and 50s, a theme would be created in order to have homecoming represent a specific setting, with this year’s example being Whimsical Woods, representing an outdoor, forest-like setting. Themes of the homecoming dance are put together by the BBCHS Student Council, with planning taking place towards the end of the school year and throughout the summer in order to get everything ready for the beginning of the next school year. 

The BBCHS Marching Band started off this year’s homecoming parade by playing a rendition of the song “Thriller” by Michael Jackson. The parade consisted of many floats that were crafted by most clubs present at BBCHS, such as Robotics, Best Buddies, Swim and Dive, the Gay/Straight Alliance and many others. The floats presented at the parade were made to match the theme of this year’s homecoming dance, Whimsical Woods. During the parade, football players could be seen waving to the audience as they passed by on huge trucks, and candy could also be seen being thrown left and right as the floats go through the parade route. Students walking with their fellow club members could also be seen handing out candy to fellow friends as a token of friendship. The parade took place on Boiler Spirit Day at around 1:30 p.m. and lasted until around 2:30 p.m.. 

The Homecoming assembly took place on Class Clash day, the most infamous spirit day in all of BBCHS during 7th hour and was composed of an introduction by the BBCHS Cheer team, various recognitions for athletes who go above and beyond in their sport, a guy and girl dance, and to top it all off, a teacher got a pie to the face as part of a new addition to the vast amount of homecoming traditions. 

The next day was the day of the homecoming dance. With doors opening at around 6:30 p.m., the dance took place in the Main Gym, with the Main Lobby featuring many snacks, ranging from candy to cookies, as well as some fruit punch to serve as a beverage. In addition to this, there was also a photo booth near the boiler room, allowing students to take pictures with friends in order to make some of those good homecoming memories. The results for this year’s Homecoming Court was also announced toward the end of the dance at around 9:00 p.m., with the Homecoming Dance ending at 10:00 p.m. with the final song being Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

School traditions such as the homecoming dance and painting the rock are staples of traditions that are a crucial part of the annual homecoming week at BBCHS. When asked why homecoming is celebrated across the country, BBCHS Principal Dr. Wright stated, “I think it’s because of the school spirit. You spend four years at a school. You feel ownership, and you feel as if that school helped prepare you for your next step, whatever that next step was. There’s a connection to it. It’s really where you grew up, where you went from as a young adult to become a 17 to 18 year old adult. That’s when life is sometimes looked at as when it really begins, when you become a graduate of a school. With so many fond memories, such as social memories, academic memories, athletic and organizational memories, people want to come back and relive those memories because they feel so fond of those memories.” 

The tradition of homecoming in itself is one that represents unity. The energy and excitement within the atmosphere at events such as the various spirit days, the homecoming parade, and homecoming dance all create the perfect catalyst to help students have a great time in addition to making memories to look back upon in the future.