Before the Homecoming Dance on Saturday, September 30, Centreville had an exciting start to its Homecoming weekend with the pep rally, parade, tailgate, and football game on Friday, September 29.
The first event of the day was the pep rally held at the end of the school day. The pep rally featured performances from the cheerleaders, dance team, choir, and marching band. Another notable performance was the teacher dance, featuring CVHS staff and students performing a dance inspired by the films “Men in Black,” the theme of this year’s Homecoming dance, and “Barbie.” The pep rally also featured several games to get students excited for the rest of the day. They played the annual student-teacher musical chairs game, and all of the classes competed to see who could cheer the loudest, with each class led by a student section leader.
Some students I spoke to expressed frustrations that because it was located inside this year, the pep rally did not include the Senior walk, typical to the fall pep rally. Students also missed the “finish the lyrics” game, which has been included for the last several years, where each grade level is given a song and has to continue to sing the lyrics once the song stops playing.
After the school day ended, the next event for the day was the Homecoming Parade, which began at 5 p.m. The parade featured several clubs, activities, and athletics from CVHS, and Homecoming court nominees from each grade level, as well as groups from the Centreville community, including little league baseball teams, Cub Scouts, and Girl Scouts- all throwing candy out to parade attendees. Danielle Krafsig, who watched the parade as it went through a neighborhood, said “I was so happy to be at the parade. It was such a community building event and it was so much fun getting candy!”
While many groups rode on the back of trucks, Theatre Centreville made sure their float stood out from the rest. The float was inspired by their performances scheduled for the 2023-24 school year, “Girls in the Boat,” which is based on a true story of the US women’s Olympic rowing team, and “Cinderella.” The float featured a Cinderella’s carriage, which they intend to use for the actual performance in the spring, sitting in a boat, to pay homage to their fall play. “The building process consisted of ITS (International Thespian Society) members coming over to paint, construct, and make the posters for it, while the final touches were done day-of,” said Katie Powderly, who contributed to building the float. Students sat in the float during the parade, all dressed in costume. “To be able to do it with friends while we were dressed up in character was amazing, and one of the reasons I love theatre in the first place. Spreading that joy and creativity was without a doubt the best part of it,” Powderly continued.
When the parade returned to school, the student parking lot was set up for the Homecoming tailgate leading up to the game. The tailgate had several food trucks, including Chick-fil-A and Two Smooth Dudes, as well as a bounce house and a teacher dunk tank, where several CVHS staff members were submerged by their students.
Once the tailgate ended, it was time for the football game. The Wildcats played against the Yorktown Patriots for the Homecoming game. The halftime show featured performances from the dance team and the marching band. The theme of the band’s show this year is “B-hive,” performing songs related to the letter “B,” like “Let it Be” by The Beatles, as well as songs by Beethoven and Beyoncé. Then, the senior Homecoming court winners were revealed with all six of them opening boxes containing balloons. Some got black and some had green, following the “Men in Black” color scheme, with the green balloons representing the winners.
Ultimately, Centreville lost 21-28, but scored an exciting touchdown in the final minutes of the game. “Even though they lost, the energy in the last five minutes of the game was insanely awesome,” said Maddie Laszewski, who is a drum major for the marching band. Although the Wildcats didn’t cinch a victory, there was still a lot of spirit in the student section. During the third quarter, Hayden Spencer said “I think that we have the fight to win, being at a homecoming game. I believe in us. I think we’re close but we’re gonna pull it out.”
This year’s Homecoming weekend was an exciting one full of school spirit!
