On Saturday, Oct. 25, the Homecoming dance took place downtown, centering on a “Rio” theme. In the week leading up to the dance, the McCallum student council organized spirit days, including the classic barbecue dad v. soccer mom theme. In addition, Blue Brigade, band and cheer prepared to perform at Friday’s pep rally, where different grade levels engaged in a tug-of-war contest.
We are proud to present Homecoming Week as this week’s Thursday Top 10.
GLITTERING AND DEFINITELY GOLD: At homecoming, senior Hannah Schlesinger dances to “Golden,” a single from the recently released film “KPop Demon Hunters,” along with friends and fellow seniors Mailyn Gil and Maya Tien. For Schlesinger, homecoming represents an opportunity to come together with the ones you love.
“The significance was the friends,” Schlesinger said. “If you go there by yourself, there’s not a good chance of having fun. That song, ‘Golden,’ was fun to sing to, and it was definitely a bonding moment. We created a little dance circle and everything.”
Schlesinger said that she believes homecoming is critical for allowing students to relax and enjoy themselves despite high school’s stressful nature. In fact, Schlesinger said that seeing people let down their hair was the highlight of her night.
“Seeing everyone getting along and having a good time was the best part,” Schlesinger said. “Everyone was so pretty. I don’t know what was in the air that night. I definitely enjoyed seeing people relax and enjoying themselves, especially people who I see that don’t smile much.”
Schlesinger expressed excitement for senior prom in the spring, but also said that it’s difficult to reconcile her appreciation for school dances with this year being her last in high school.
“I think prom is when the bittersweet feelings will come,” Schlesinger said.
Schlesinger, an avowed fan of early 2000s pop music, had only two critiques for the homecoming dance.
“We need a request list next to the DJ and more Britney songs.” Schlesinger said.
Caption by Beatrix Lozach. Photo by Sam Nash.
MURDER ON THE DANCE FLOOR: Junior Max Turner and senior James Roden dance the night away during the homecoming dance. Although Turner didn’t have a specific favorite moment, he said he enjoyed all of it, being able to dance with his friends throughout the evening.
“My favorite part about homecoming was how social it was. I got to dance and see almost all of my friends from school,” Turner said. “There were so many people there and the mood was fantastic.”
Attending his second homecoming, Turner noted that this year’s event felt more energetic than the last.
“This year differed from previous years, it definitely seemed to have had a really great turnout,” Turner said. “There were definitely not as many people last year and the amount of people definitely added to the environment and mood of the event.”
Caption by Sophia Manos. Photo by Lucas Walker.
HIGH KICKS FOR HOMECOMING: Freshman Betsy Simon performs with Blue Brigade at the Homecoming Pep Rally last Friday. According to Simon, she’s always been a dancer. For 12 years, she has leaped, twirled and kicked. Still, homecoming was a new experience for the new Blue Brigade member. Simon enjoyed the anticipation and energy of the pep rally; however, the highlight of homecoming came later in the day for her.
“I like performing and the environment of everyone being excited [at the pep rally], and I really liked being able to perform at the football game,” Simon said. “Everyone is cheering and I think it gets everyone in the spirit for homecoming.”
According to Simon, preparing for homecoming is different from other events that Blue Brigade does.
“Our practices are more complicated because we have to do more dances and we have to go practice with the band outside, so it’s just a lot more,” Simon said. “We learned our routines a few weeks ago, but usually the week before and the week of, we take more time cleaning and we go outside to practice with the band.”
One homecoming experience under her belt, Simon said she looks forward to next year and feels more prepared with the knowledge of what to expect.
Caption by Hannah Kahn. Photo by Harper Maxwell.
VICTORIOUS SPIRIT: Seniors Caroline Bell and Sienna Gunning face off against the junior class in the Homecoming Pep Rally tug-of-war game on Oct. 24. Bell, participating in the day’s theme of Rio, came to the pep rally filled with spirit and loved seeing the rest of the school show out as well. Bell’s stated favorite part of homecoming is planning out her outfits with friends and she’s going to miss that part of the experience the most.
“Some people went all out, while others were more subtle about it, but it seemed like most students actually participated in themes this year,” Bell said.
Every pep rally, all grades participate in a victory chant showdown; whoever is the loudest wins. This pep rally, the seniors earned that title, which, according to Bell, was very special.
“I’ve loved seeing how much my class has shown up and showed out this year, so winning the victory chant was super exciting,” Bell said.
While the senior class won the victory chant, they weren’t as fortunate in the tug of war. The game started with the seniors and juniors competing against each other on one rope, and freshmen and sophomores on the other. While the seniors did successfully beat the juniors in the first round, they were defeated by the freshmen in the second. However, Bell still enjoyed being able to play overall.
“Losing to the freshman was definitely disappointing,” Bell said. “But our senior team had a lot of fun, so I’m just glad we were picked to represent our class.”
As a senior, Bell has attended a lot of homecoming events and pep rallies over the years and loves seeing the spirit grow each year. This year, with the pep rally changed from the afternoon to the mornings, it’s been hard to adjust. Bell believes the Homecoming Pep Rally was a great example of students making up for it.
“Everyone had been super enthusiastic this year, which makes the pep rallies that much better,” Bell said.
Overall, Bell believes McCallum’s pep rallies are a great representation of the school’s spirit, with one-of-a-kind traditions.
“[The pep rallies] are electric every year,” Bell said. “We have a lot more school spirit than the average school, so that environment is always on another level.”
Caption by Adele Seeboth. Photo by J. Frank Webster.
DANCING WITH FRIENDS: Juniors Riley Poole and Boris Lingo dance during this year’s homecoming dance. Lingo and Poole spent the night dancing and talking to friends at the dance. Although Lingo did not attend the dance’s entirety, she enjoyed being able to hang out with friends.
“The social aspect was definitely the best,” Lingo said. “The location of the venue was [also] lovely, I really like being downtown and the weather was pretty great too.”
Lingo also participated in the football game aspect of homecoming with the color guard. Lingo believes that performances in general this year have gone well. As a member of the on-campus group PALS, Lingo found a few challenges with regard to purchasing tickets to the dance. As a junior, Lingo struggled to get to the ticket line during lunch since Pink Week was at the same time.
“It was really frustrating to have pink week be the same as ticket sales,” Lingo said. “What I think would’ve solved this would’ve been online ticket sales. It would’ve fixed every issue I had with the tickets.”
Despite this early challenge, Lingo was still able to get tickets in time and attend the dance. According to Lingo, she had a great experience with the dance and would attend again next year.
Caption by Riley Pita. Photo by Lucas Walker.
PEP RALLY POM: Blue Brigade junior lieutenant Opal Rodgers performs a pom dance to “Womanizer” at the Homecoming Pep Rally on Friday, Oct. 24. The previously retired dance was brought back from the 2022-2023 season by captain Chloe Seckar-Martinez. The team learned the dance a week prior and then tried out for the opportunity to perform it.
“The officers tried out all of the team and picked our people that we think should be in the dance, and this time everyone got in,” Rodgers said. “It was very fun and I’m very glad that everyone got to be in the dance.”
Besides performing, Rodgers enjoys playing the games alongside the rest of the student body.
“This time we got to play tug of war,” Rogers said. “I was kind of hoping we would win, but it was really fun.”
Compared to other pep rallies, Rodgers especially likes the Homecoming Pep Rally because of the spirit and excitement it raises.
“I think that the best part about being Homecoming Pep Rally was getting everyone hyped up to come to the game,” Rodgers said. “I love getting to raise everyone’s spirits and get them excited for the game.”
Caption by Carson Duncan. Photo by Harper Maxwell.
COME PLEDGE YOUR FAITH: Last Friday during F.I.T. the school gathered in the gym to celebrate and participate in the Homecoming Pep Rally. This pep rally consisted of performances by Blue Brigade, cheerleaders and the McCallum step team.
At every pep rally, there are some of the same events done, such as head varsity football coach Thomas Gammerdinger’s speech, the victory chant by every grade and the school song played by the band. For the school song, everybody, including the football players, stands up and holds pinkies.
For senior football player Nash Wegner, the pep rallies are a great way to get the team and student body excited and ready for the game.
“They get us hype by beginning part where the band plays, and we run out,” Wegner said. “[Gammerdinger also talks] to the school about the game.”
Another addition to the pep rallies is the games put on by the cheerleaders. This week’s game included a tug-of-war tournament, with 10 students from each grade chosen to represent their class. The freshmen faced the juniors, and the sophomores faced the seniors. The final included the freshmen and the seniors, where the freshmen were able to pull out the win.
“My favorite parts of the pep rallies are the games when the students play in them and the victory chant,” Wenger said. “I really liked it and thought that it was a fun and different game than the previous games.”
Caption by Maya Tackett. Photo by Anais Long.
DANCIN’ ALL NIGHT LONG: Sophomore Laura Berry dances with fellow sophomore Fernando Sanchez at this year’s homecoming dance. Although Berry loved arriving at the downtown venue, she especially enjoyed the whole day leading up to the dance.
“I really liked going with my friends to Chili’s for dinner beforehand,” Berry said. “ It was fun to go all dressed up, and I can’t wait to do it next year too.”
Hanging out with friends was Berry’s favorite part of the event. While at the dance, Berry was surprised by how much she enjoyed dancing under the lights and music.
“The music was so great and loud,” Berry said. “In the past, it hasn’t been as easy to hear, but it made it so fun to dance all night. The colors and decoration made the dance feel special, and being under the downtown lights was also really cool.”
Berry said she enjoyed the spirit of Homecoming Week, from the pep rally to the themed dress-up days. Overall, she loved the sense of community the week brought and said she can’t wait to experience it again next year.
“I loved dressing up as a barbecue dad,” Berry said. “It was so fun to see the other creative costumes my friends and other people came up with. I loved that the whole school was just excited for homecoming.”
Caption by Sylvia Hurtado. Photo by Sam Nash.
BLAST FROM THE PAST: Blue Brigade junior lieutenant Emma Simon performs a pom dance to Britany Spears’ “Womanizer” during the Homecoming Pep Rally. The dance was brought back from the 2022-2023 season, and dancers like Simon found joy in watching the seniors’ nostalgia and enthusiasm.
“The dance we did was brought back from [the seniors’] freshman year, so it was really fun seeing the seniors get excited about a nostalgic dance,” Simon said.
Simon has found herself enjoying the pep rally as a whole, as well. She notes that they are more about the pep portion rather than the dancing itself, but still finds joy in performing at them.
“I love pep rallies, I think they’re a lot of fun,” Simon said. “I do think they relate more to school spirit than dance, but it’s always fun to put on a show for the school.”
This won’t be Blue Brigade’s last performance. Simon gives a look at their upcoming performances and where fans can see them next.
“Blue Brigade performs at just about every football game, as well as our competitions in the spring, and our spring show that is performed in April,” Simon says.
Caption by Sam Nash. Photo by Anais Long.
V-I-C-T-O-R-Y: Senior Valeria Villafuerte-Perez celebrates the senior class victory of the homecoming hallway decorating contest at the Homecoming Pep Rally. The seniors also won the victory chant, where classes sing their “battle cry” and the seniors celebrate with confetti poppers and silly string.
“It was really bittersweet because it was the seniors’ last Homecoming Pep Rally,” Villafuerte-Perez said, “I was really happy we won both the victory chant and the hallway contest.”
Villafuerte-Perez said she’ll miss the preparation leading up to McCallum’s homecoming week the most. Her mom made her a homecoming mum, and as a senior, she wanted to go all out to celebrate her final homecoming.
“I love homecoming week, especially the game, because I get to wear the mum and show my school spirit,” Villafuerte-Perez said.
Caption by Sienna Martens. Photo by Harper Maxwell.
