Englewood, Co. – With hallways and classrooms all decked in pink, it is clear Homecoming Week 2023 has arrived. Months of planning by student leadership were put into the week-long event. In this story, you can scroll through the events by clicking on each day. EHS Media students will update this post with exciting videos and pictures as they become available.
Senior Jaliyah Mora is on the student Government team and came up with the theme for Homecoming, “I think everybody likes it and a lot of people voted on it too. Especially because it’s a trend.
She loves a lot of things about Homecoming, “I think homecoming week is very special because it’s a tradition and we’re trying to start more traditions, more school spirit, and it just makes the school year fun.”
Englewood High School has a lengthy history of Homecoming traditions. Recently, we scanned over old yearbooks and conducted interviews to gain information on homecoming at Englewood as well as how much our students know about EHS homecoming.
Lila Downing has been with Englewood High School for almost three decades and remembers how homecoming used to be, “We did them just bigger, grander.”
Englewood High School has a wide variety of after-school events to bring the students together during homecoming week. First is Powderpuff which switches the roles as girls play football and the boys cheer them on. Right after that is the bonfire that is built with wood and lit by the fire department as students gather and watch the flame grow.
A few days later is the homecoming football game, the biggest game of the year. Then, the day students wait for all week, the homecoming dance, where playful music blares and students dance around with friends. All of these events have a huge impact on our school.
Where did these traditions start?
The first rendition of homecoming at EHS was called the Orpheum but rather than it being dress-up days, spirit activities, and a dance, the Orpheum was a display of performances from various clubs at EHS. Later in 1946, there is a mention of Homecoming taking place around the same time of year that it still does today. In 1946, we see the firs homecoming queen was named Dorothy Tremaine.
Each year, students from all classes gather on the weekend ahead of Homecoming to decorate the halls. Each class gets a different section of the school with staff decorating the entryway, Seniors down the Math hallway, Juniors toward the Commons, and 9th and 10th graders splitting the 3rd floor.
EHS Vice-President Jaliyah Mora came up with the theme for the senior hallway. They used posters, balloons, and streamers to add spice to the hallway by the math and language departments.
Sophomore students combined the Real World with Barbie Land and used lots of paper and streamers for decoration, “It was fun but a little stressful because we didn’t have a lot of people helping out,” said Abby Williams, “School Spirit is an issue this year. A lot of the sophomores don’t want to participate in anything.”
On day one of dress-up week for Homecoming, students found a way to express Malibu Barbie. Many opted for beachwear and Hawaiian shirts.
Junior Grant Pebbles is liking the vibes this year, “I feel good about Homecoming. School Spirit is up.”
Pebbles says he loves seeing everyone in costume, “Everyone coming together and not being embarrassed to wear strange things to school.”
Homecoming 2023 continued Tuesday with Twin Tuesday. Twin with a Friend is a dress-up favorite as students and staff can come up with any idea to match a classmate. HoCo Spirit days also come with prizes. The Best Spirit participant each day gets one free ticket to the Homecoming Dance.
The middle of Homecoming week is a highlight for EHS students. Wednesday ushered in Pink Out for dress up, the Powderpuff football game, and the bonfire that lights up the Englewood skies.
Just FYI: Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century.
According to Logo.com, the color, known as Barbie Pink or Pantone 219c, was named after the company.
The Friday of Homecoming week is filled with activities, including Class Colors dress up, a parade around the K-8 grade schools in Englewood, a pep rally, a tailgate party, and a home football game against Lincoln.
When EHS ended its street parade around the time of COVID-19, students wanted a new tradition that included the elementary and middle schools in Englewood. Last year, students took a Homecoming tour with the band around the schools to celebrate the week of Homecoming.
It is now in its second year and the elementary students seem to love seeing the older students parade down the halls.
“It was nice to see the new faces that will grow up and hopefully come to EHS. It felt nice,” said senior class president Tracy Jennings.
Students ended Homecoming week with a Pep Assembly in the gym. There were performances by the choir, cheer squad, and teachers trying a Barbie dance. Students also go to play games and compete for points for their class.
The EHS tailgate started at 5:00 at the Englewood Campus Courtyard near the stadium. There was food, music, and games ahead of the football game. Clubs used the well-attended event to raise money for their group activities.
The largest homecoming football crowd in years gathered at Penn Stadium for the football game against Lincoln. In addition to the large crowd that included alumni, the student cheer section was the largest in at least five years.
The Pirates won 43-0.
Senior right receiver Dane Quintana is pretty positive about the team, “The game felt good, but that’s what we’re supposed to do. So we expected it.”
He knows this wasn’t the toughest team they will face, “We have a more challenging schedule coming up, but I think if we work as a team, we’ll handle it fine.”
Junior safety Grant Pebbles says it feels good to win in front of a home crowd, “It feels nice to get a win on homecoming with that huge crowd. I feel like we’re working really well as a team. I feel like we’re doing better. We’re gonna have more seniors and the junior class is pretty good. So the more we work as a team the better we will be and hopefully, we’ll make playoffs this year and next year.”
Senior center and linebacker Beau Johnson thought the team played well, “I’m pretty happy about our performance in the game and feel like we executed our plan and played pretty well. I think we’re doing well as a team. I think we’re really hitting our peak at the right moment before we start league play.”
Johnson is also a team captain. He knows this huge win doesn’t give the team license to relax, “I mean, we definitely need to stay hungry for it. Work hard and really focus on getting better with our better opponents getting in the way now.”
During half-time, the band performed its competition routine, and the cheer squad did a crowd pleasing routine as well.
Finally, the Homecoming court made its way onto the field, and the royalty was announced for Homecoming 2023. Beau Johnson and Dulce Rodriguez took home the crowns.
Homecoming Court for 2023
Freshmen:
River Aitkin
Hayden Gifford
Darby Knowles
Rey Morales Galindo
Sophomores:
Violet Cuenca Fregoso
Dylan Knoll
Maile Manfre
Hector Ramirez Sanchez Jr
Juniors
Yoshigue Alvarez
Brookelyn McCann
Deon Robinson-Hancock
Naomi Vazquez
Seniors
Sayla Champion
Beau Johnson
Jayce Prante
Kaylee McCaskey
Jaliyah Mora
Dulce Rodriguez
Homecoming Royalty:
Beau Johnson & Dulce Rodriguez
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