Dresses, photos, music, dancing, friends, and fun. These are words we often use to describe homecoming. As students of The Morgan School, we love homecoming, and we often plan months in advance for this special night. However, almost none of us truly know the planning that goes into homecoming.

Most people at Morgan don’t know the process either. That is, unless you are Mrs. Davis or a part of her Spirit Squad club. Spirit Squad runs the entirety of Homecoming, from fundraising to setting up the day of. Mrs. Davis was always involved with Homecoming, but in 2021, Mrs. Davis and the spirit squad officially took over the full planning of the homecoming dance, as before, Mrs. Davis was the only one planning the entire event. Mrs. Davis always had a passion for planning events.

“As a side job, I do event planning and wedding planning and things like that, so for me, I love the whole process of picking the theme and planning how we want to decorate and like what events are going to happen throughout the week,” Davis said.

Davis explained that the process of planning starts with months left in the previous school year. “So we started planning last year at the end of the year. We were picking the theme and kind of brainstorming about what was going to happen this year. And then my first meeting with Spirit Squad was when school started on a Tuesday. It was the following Tuesday that we had our first meeting to hit the ground running.”

“We were picking the theme and kind of brainstorming about what was going to happen this year,” said Mrs. Davis. 50 students are members of this club. One of whom is Hayden Darr. Hayden is very passionate about this year’s Homecoming and has many ideas on how to improve this year’s Homecoming.

Hayden has two points of view of homecoming, as he gets to be involved with decorating the event and setting it up, and being able to go with friends and participate as a regular student.

“I have been to the first two homecomings when I was a freshman and when I was a sophomore. Both times were positive experiences for me,” Hayden shared.

Even though the planning may seem simple, it actually takes a bit of time to get things all organized.

“Ideally, we kind of start planning, like, during the spring of the previous year. Like, we just get our ideas out, so planning-wise, we are just brainstorming. Then we really start getting into it, like, as soon as the school year starts. We then take a week off, and then in the second week of school, we have our first meeting,” Hayden stated.

The theme for the homecoming dance is Under the Sea. The gym will be decorated with sea-like decorations, jellyfish, blue lighting, and anything else you might find under the sea. Junior Emma Holecz is very involved in Spirit Squad and the planning that goes into it. “She picks a few options, and we all unanimously agree on one. We chose Under the Sea because we thought it would go nicely with the Musical, so we can reuse props. It is also something brand new from last year, and it’s something that hasn’t been done before,” Holecz explained.

Usually, it takes about a few weeks to a month for the theme because people fill out the forms, and the most popular wins. All the spirit squad members and Mrs Davis.

Morgan students enjoy their homecoming, being with friends, laughing, dancing, and overall just having a good time. None of this would be possible without the careful planning of the spirit squad and a handful of other teachers.