On Homecoming and School Spirit
Homecoming was by far my favorite time of year when I was a student at NHS. During my junior year I was the assistant spirit commissioner, working with classmate Scott Sauter `90 to plan a great homecoming procession and dance. Scott was a great spirit commissioner - he knew how to make fun happen every day. When he was not organizing student activities, he took on and alternate personality by the name of `Sean Mooney.` Sean would read morning announcements over the PA system to homeroom classes inserting covert subplots that made the morning a little more interesting.
It was by watching Sean, I mean Scott, that I realized how one student could turn an otherwise mundane public school day into something more. The following year when I succeeded Scott, I established a spirit point system and music Friday`s in the senior quad. These were not terribly novel ideas, but they were new for NHS and I observed that they added a little fun to our days. Classes competed to earn points by wearing school colors on Friday`s, but the bigger deal was the homecoming float competition, which offered big point rewards to the winning class.
I recall the float building experience as an exciting, yet secretive process. Great effort was made to keep the construction sites of various floats away from the other classes so there would be no spying on the competition! As the spirit commissioner, I got to observe this process first hand because it was my job to `check up` on each classes float to make sure they were built within the required specifications. Of course, this really drove the other classes` nuts because I was a SENIOR and I basically had license to check out the competition… could I keep a secret about what the others were doing? I recall thinking that our class float (Class of 1991) was the best anyway so why jinx it by leaking information.
I don`t actually recall which class won the competition, but I do recall announcing the wrong homecoming queen because I forgot to ask Vice Principal Sandra Buck who was the winner before the announcement. So, I watched facial reactions to determine the winner and called out Moanna Moyad`s name not realizing the surprise on her face was directed toward her friend, and in-fact winner Jennifer Renner. It was one of those embarrassing moments in high school you care to forget, and thankfully, few people remember.
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