The Homer High School’s 2026 Homecoming week involved a combination of school-wide events, like spirit week, the bonfire, football and volleyball games, and of course the homecoming dance, but also had a focus on the senior class of 2027.
Senior sunrise
On Wednesday, September 16th, members of the senior class met on the school’s lower turf to celebrate the metaphorical dawn of their final year in high school, while watching the glorious sunrise at roughly 7:15 AM. Unfortunately, it was one of the windiest mornings of this autumn; personalized posters adorned with “class of ‘27” and “smile, you’re a senior!” barely held up to the gale. Tyler Burnett, a senior class student council representative, contributed to the event with the “plan of getting a really cool drone shot” of all classmates that chose to attend the event. Though the conditions were a little different than expected, he admitted that the experience was "definitely fun” for all seniors.
Spirit week
In a radical approach, HHS employed a new tactic to encourage spirit– homecoming week, the ability to win brand-new technology was on the line, as long as you dressed up and checked in with Mr. Pederson daily. Themes for the dress up days included: blue and gold day, twin day, generation day, filthy or fancy and class colors.
Volleyball games
Coming off a sweep against Fairbanks’ Monroe Catholic School the previous night, the emotion in the gym during HHS volleyball’s win against Houston on Friday, September 18th, was electrifying. To boost participation at both the bonfire and the games, volleyball was hosted at 2 PM, right in the middle of class. Teachers were encouraged to excuse their classes to watch the matches– virtually the entire student body attended. The student section stretched all across the gym, and the classic chant of “Go Big Blue” echoed until Homer varsity secured the win in three quick sets. JV also won, and C-team lost a tough match, but all three teams celebrated hard at the bonfire and parade beginning around 7 PM last Friday night.
Parade
Homer High School chose to reinvoke a tradition of the past for the parade this year– elementary schools in the area were invited to participate! West Homer Elementary was the only school able to put together a float, but it was an impressive one. About twenty excited 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th graders chucked candy as far as possible, pelting thrilled onlookers as laughs reverberated around the lower parking lot.
Bonfire
At the bonfire, Homer High student innovation shone just as brightly as the flames– the student-led pop-punk band DSB performed on Friday, September 18th. Many students came just to watch the band, in fact. HHS student Junior and DSB drummer Ames Kincaid had some words on his performance: “It was a lot of fun. We have a pretty big support from a lot of the students at school, so I know there were a lot of kids that showed up just to see us, and I thought that was pretty cool. Yeah, and we had a lot of people engaging, and then a lot of people also like doing other activities while listening, which was fun because it's like we were like the primary source of entertainment for some people, and then background music for others,” he said.
Football game
The homecoming varsity football game kicked off at 2 PM on Saturday, September 19th. Homer hosted the rival Barrow Whalers, though sadly fell with a score of 6-36.
Dance
This year, HHS had to account for the massive freshman class in planning floor space for the Homecoming Dance at 8 PM on Saturday, September 19th. The boundaries of the dance floor were extended around 6 feet, but the energy in the area did not suffer.Palm trees, feathers, streamers, and other bright tropical imagery adorned the far section of the commons, all illuminated under a grand light show and accompanied by a carnival-adjacent playlist curated by student council’s dance committee. The Barrow Whaler football players and cheerleaders were even invited to HHS’s homecoming dance, and seemed to have an enjoyable experience. A few athletes even stayed to assist HHS student council in cleanup! Turnout at the dance, though there is no official quantity recorded, was generally accepted as immense in the eyes of students, staff, and even chaperones.
Reporting from Homer High School, this is Britta Velsko.