McHenry hopes to Pack the Point for Homecoming 3 MCHS to celebrate centennial Homecoming week 4
Opinions
Opinion: Outshined by the ball 5
Features
Marching along Green Street 5
A hundred years in the making 7 Shining from the windows 9
Sports
Hole in one 11
A&E
Playlist: Dancing for a century 12 Way back when 13
On the Cover
As an essential part to McHenry’s homecoming, football brings students and alumni together to celebrate MCHS pride. The endzone is not just about about football. It’s all about connection and spirit.
Maddie Canada This month’s cover photographer
McHenry Community High School
Upper Campus 4724 West Crystal Lake Road McHenry, IL 60050 (815) 385-7077
In This Issue
During MCHS’s centennial celebration, the school is planning a variety of events that celebrate the past 100 years along with the new school year
Each year during Homecoming, the school puts its focus on football and dances—but there’s more to Homecoming than that, right?
4
McHenry High School opened its doors a hundred years ago and has seen a lot of history pass through since.
This year’s girls golf team has already seen a lot of success. What does the rest of the season have in store for them?
This year’s “carnival” Homecoming theme will allow plenty of fun opportunities to dress up and decorate. But what other themes has MCHS incorporated into Homecoming?
5 7 11 13
The McHenry Messenger
Mission Statement
Student journalists have the right to exercise freedom of speech and the press in high school media. The McHenry Messenger is a byproduct of these rights. We hope to use this platform to inform and engage the students and staff of McHenry High School as well as its broader community.
As a student-driven publication, it is important to us that we represent every group within both campuses and provide a platform for them to speak their truth. We intend to provide access to objective, relevant information that they need to know during these unprecedented times.
The McHenry Messenger hopes to maintain editorial independence while continuing to nurture our connections to the community.
As we strive to fulfill our journalistic mission, we recognize that learning and growing through our experiences as reporters, writers and editors is a core aspect of what makes this a student publication. When we make mistakes, our organization is prepared to take responsibility for the stories we publish and hold ourselves accountable.
Published by
Editorial Staff
Staff Writers
Photographers
Special Thanks to
Advisor
McHenry Community High School in McHenry, IL
Lily Adams, Editor-In-Chief
Rose Wenckebach, Artistic Director Brooke Danz and Maggie Demski, Copy Editors
Tate Bartelson, Grace Bellavia, Hunter Blake, Beth Brackmann, Dominic Burnett, Grace Crockett, Ffion Curtain, Quinn Fitzgerald, Eli Frommes, Afton Ingraffia, Brynn Kostalnik, Elijah Latronica, Travis Norberg, Ethan Rasmussen, Berenice Santiago Hernandez, Olivia Smith, Michalina Sotka, Aika Villa, and McKenzie Woods
Maddie Canada
Cary Byer, Matt Connor, Greg Eiserman, Betsy Goy, Gina Nomikoudis, Jeff Prickett, Jamie Rosinski, Mitch Stengel, Tribune Content Agency and VIP
Dane Erbach
Both the McHenry Messenger’s print and digital editions have been established as designated forums for student editors to inform and educate their readers as well as for the discussion of issues related to their audience. Though the student media advisor is responsible for teaching students sound journalism skills and judgment, this paper does not engage in prior review and, thus, all content published by both editions of the McHenry Messenger reflects only the views of the student staff and not school officials or the school itself (unless attributed accordingly).
If you would like to get in contact with the McHenry Messenger, please email the advisor at erbachdane@dist156.org or call (815) 385-1145 and leave a message on his voicemail.
Visit TheMcHenryMessenger.com for more news, features, and opinions
Welcome home and welcome back
With Homecoming week here finally, everyone’s on their feet with excitement. This year’s McHenry Messenger’s staff is no different, and we are proud to present our first issue—not only a special Homecoming edition, but also a special centennial edition.
The beginning of the school year is always so stressful, and the Messenger faced some challenges of its own as it sought to find its footing. This year, we have had more staff writers than ever before. Teaching new writers is a struggle alone by itself, but it’s even harder when you’re putting together the first issue of the year. Despite this, our returning writers worked together to make sure our community knew everything they needed to know about this year’s special Homecoming week. These stories focus on the action the Warrior community can expect this year. Our writers discuss the dance, Paint the Town, the annual parade, and so much more. These stories also explore the history of Homecoming at MCHS stretching back a century.
As stated above, this year is also important as it has been a hundred years since MCHS opened its doors. A centennial Homecoming is an important issue to cover, and we are proud of our coverage. Our staff have worked incredibly hard to push through deadlines and other issues to make this. Our editors have stayed up and edited these stories for you and went above and beyond for their newspaper.
I could not be more proud of our staff and of this first print issue of the year. It is my proud honor as this year’s editor-in-chief to present to you the Homecoming issue of 2024. I hope you enjoy our hard work and we thank you for reading.
Lily Adams Editor-In-Chief
McHenry hopes to Pack the Point for Homecoming
Eli Frommes Staff Writer
This year’s parade will start and end in different locations, culminating in a special Homecoming celebration
The Homecoming parade will now be part of a celebration MCHS is calling Pack the Point. There will be a new parade route, starting location and a party at Miller Point on Oct. 6.
The parade will start at Veterans Memorial Park and will end by the Freshman Campus. Afterwards everyone will walk to the river by Windhill Pancake Parlor where there will be a celebration with food trucks and live music.
Assistant Superintendent Carl Vallianatos talks about changes to the parade route and the new starting point.
“We’re going to start at Veterans Park and we’re going to go towards the Freshman Campus,” says Vallianatos. “It’s going to finish at the Freshman Campus, and then we’re going to walk over and have an afternoon of fun.”
Live music and food trucks will also be attending the parade along with the community and MCHS students and staff.
“There’s gonna be five, four or five food trucks,” continues Vallianatos. “Obviously, the Riverwalk. Shops are there, restrooms are there but we’re going to have the whole park, the amphitheater. We’re going to invite all of the parents, students and everyone out. Then once everyone gets there, the DJ is going to stop. We’re going to have our rally and our coronation.”
Student Council President Grace Hunt talks about the meeting spot and what will happen after the parade.
“Following the parade, we will walk over and meet the McHenry Community in downtown McHenry,” says Hunt, “by the Little Shoppes area for the Pack the Point event and the Homecoming Rally. There is where Homecoming court will be
crowned and other community announcements will be shared.”
After the parade, there will be a celebration at Miller Point with food trucks and live music.
“We’re going to have a live band called Forever Flannel,” Vallianatos added.
“It’s a 90s alternative band. They’re gonna play till 4:00. So at 12:30, people probably get over there at about one or 1:15 and then we’ll have three hours of listening to music doing our parade, or it’s gonna be a parade, then rally and coordination, and then the live band and food trucks.”
Members of the Student Council have planned to set up carnival games to play after the parade along with the live music and food trucks.
“The Student Council is planning to get involved and have Carnival Games
at the event for the community to interact with and promote the Homecoming theme,” says Hunt, “but this plan is still in the works.”
The setup for the floats will also be at Veterans Park. Clubs and extracurriculars like cross country, newspaper, football and swim will be walking in the parade this year.
“It’s all going to be around. It’s actually just going to be on two of the streets that are right next to Veterans Memorial Park, kind of facing south,” says Vallianatos. “And then the parade is just going to start once everybody’s kind of gathered, and their trucks and their floats are ready, and that’s where, you know, we’re just going to go right down. We’re going to go right on Pearl Street, and then down Green Street.”
This year, the Homecoming Parade will start at Veterans Memorial Park and end at the Freshman Campus, which offers easy access to Miller Point and this year’s special Pack the Point celebration.
Photo By: McKenzie Woods
MCHS to celebrate centennial during Homecoming week
The school will celebrate 100 years since opening its doors with a week of Homecoming events and celebrations
This year, Homecoming brings many events to celebrate the 100th year of MCHS including a spirit week, football game, and a dance.
The theme for this year’s dance is “The Greatest Homecoming” or “Carnival” which will be from 7-10 p.m. on Oct. 12 at the Upper Campus. Tickets cost $20 each. However, this year, a new company called Boom will help put on the dance, which according to Samantha Carlson, student council advisor and chemistry teacher here at MCHS, will have a better focus on the musical aspect for students’ overall enjoyment.
Sophia Stabenow, junior at MCHS who regularly attends Homecoming, displays her concerns regarding music at the dance this year.
“They weren’t actually taking the student recommendations,” says Stabenow. “I also noticed they were playing the same songs from previous years … so hopefully that’ll be different this year with the new company.”
With the 100th anniversary of the school this year, the Homecoming parade will kick off homecoming week with something new.
“The centennial anniversary changes the parade,” says Carlson. “We are turning the parade into a bigger event by having “Pack the Point”. At this event, there will be a rally/coronation, live music, and food trucks.”
Pack the Point will be on Sunday, October 6 following the Homecoming parade from 12-4 p.m. The event will start with DJ Rocco Z. 12–2:30 with the parade following at 12:30. Then the homecoming court coronation/rally will take place at 1:15 with live music such as 90’s alternative band “Forever Flannel” playing 2:30-4 with food trucks catering throughout the event.
The Homecoming spirit week will be the week of October 7-11 with days such as Color Wars, Twin Day, Warrior Wednesday, White Lies and Camo Out to celebrate the Homecoming football game
Grace Crockett Staff Writer
with varsity on Oct. 11 and Powderpuff on Oct. 9.
The Homecoming varsity football game will be on Friday October 11 with the kickoff at 7 p.m. The game will be against the Crystal Lake South Gators making the theme Camo Out which is the same theme as it was 2 years ago.
This year, all the Homecoming spirit days are the same as it was 2 years ago. Stabenow says looking online could be a solution for the school to attempt to increase school spirit in the students’ participation.
“I think that looking online for ideas that other schools are doing is a good idea,” says Stabenow. “They don’t necessarily have to do things that they’ve done in previous years. Even though we’re going against Crystal Lake South again, which is gator hunting, they don’t have to do camo, because we did that recently. But since it’s the 100th year, I hope Homecoming will be even better than previous years.”
This year’s Homecoming celebration will feature some new events along with some old traditions, including the parade, Powder Puff football, the dance and Paint the Town.
Photo By: Grace Bellavia
Homecoming is one of the most exciting weeks of the school year—but not necessarily because of football or dances. MCHS should work harder as a school celebrate all that high school has to offer during Homecoming—and all of its groups.
Photo By: VIP
Outshined by the ball
Homecoming is held every fall at MCHS, but why do we value some events over others?
Having been open for 100 years, MCHS has changed a lot but one thing that’s stayed relatively the same is Homecoming. An event created to celebrate alumni is now an event to celebrate how expensive a dress is or whether or not the football team will win. The first “Homecoming” was in 1910 at the University of Missouri. It spread to other colleges and universities and became a very popular event for schools to hold. It eventually made its way down to high schools by the 1920’s where it became even more popular. The event was created to celebrate and welcome home graduated alumni, allowing those to show their school spirit. MCHS celebrates Homecoming every October. Being a week long, homecoming is associated with multiple activities including paint the town, a parade and a spirit rally. With the week wrapping up with the final football game of the season and the infamous Homecoming dance.
For an event made to embrace and celebrate former students, not much is said about them. It’s not like they don’t show up; many do but they’re never mentioned or included in the celebrations. Yes, there are some events they can’t partake in, but there are plenty they can. Shout-outs at the games or in the parade would be a nice way to make them feel seen and included in an event created to celebrate them. Remembering the purpose of Homecoming is the first step to making these changes. The school is trying to
change this though. This year, distinguished warrior graduates from last school year will be speaking during the parade. Showing that including the alumni is possible and should be explored more in the future.
It’s not just the alumni who need more representation during homecoming. There are other activities and sports who don’t get the support they deserve too. There is more to homecoming than just the football game and the dance; it is a week-long event. Driving through town, it’s hard to miss the colorful drawings on local shop windows. This event, paint the town, is one that many of the clubs take part in. It involves going to local shops and painting their windows to show school spirit. Other events include the parade and the powder puff game. Both of these are normally hyped up and widely advertised but don’t normally bring in huge crowds. This especially applies to the powder puff game, which is a flag football game played between junior and senior girls. This event is talked about a lot, whether it be over emails and announcements or just by word of mouth, but no one ever seems to show up. And this goes for all of the events, except for, well, the football game and dance.
The Homecoming dance, the night people spend hundreds of dollars and weeks preparing for, just for some pictures and to hang out in the gym. It’s one thing for the football game to be over hyped since it’s part of the stereotypical “American high school”
Beth Brackmann Staff Writer
tradition, and yes, the dance falls under that tradition too, but come on, neither are that important. Both are just ways to show who has money and who’s popular. Many don’t even go to either of those and choose to skip and hang out somewhere else. So why are these the events everyone goes crazy about other than the fact that they’re stereotypical? There’s nothing all too special about these, no one cares about the actual football game. They’re just there to be there, and the dance is more of a stand around while listening to semi clean music. Yet these are the events people pour time and money into.
It’s fun to indulge for a couple of nights and the football game and dance are so popular because they are stereotypical and can feel like stepping into the movies. These reasons are fine and it is fun to relate to movies and TV but those pieces of media aren’t realistic and we shouldn’t try to recreate them. Homecoming is an exciting and stressful time. The celebration has strayed very far from its original purpose; but it is still a fun experience. More focus should be on the smaller activities though since they add just as much school spirit as the bigger ones. School spirit is the main point of holding a homecoming and that’s been lost over time with the focus being moved to big flashy football games and dances. The school would benefit overall if we returned back to a school spirit focus allowing for more of the current and former student body to be seen and heard.
By: Grace Bellavia
Marching along Green Street
Ffion Curtain Staff Writer
MCHS’s Homecoming traditions are underway and with the parade coming up, there are new things coming too
As Homecoming rolls around so comes the annual Homecoming Parade, one of the biggest traditions that MCHS brings each year.
The parade honors Homecoming Court, clubs at MCHS and all fall sports that are playing this season.
The parade will take place on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 12:30 p.m. The route will be changing this year to include Miller Point as a new addition called ‘Pack the Point’ will be included in this year’s parade to celebrate one hundred years of Homecoming..
Float and Vehicle decorating will take place at Veterans Memorial Park starting at 10 a.m. Because of the limited set up space, they will not be assigning a specific order and all floats will be in line based on a “first come, first served” basis.
Student Council lays a helping hand in running the parade. Handing
out candy to kids and helping sports and clubs out with decorating their floats.
“The parade is a fun event where we can promote the Student Council and other organizations at McHenry High School,” says Student Council President Grace Hunt, “and involve the community in our annual Homecoming traditions and events.”
The celebration happening at the ‘Pack the Point’ event includes a live band, food trucks and presentation of the 2024 Distinguished Graduate.
“Buss Ford lends us their trucks and convertibles to use for our parades,” Student Council Advisor Stephanie Lukas says, “and Knapheide also lends us their trailers for student activities to decorate.”
Among the common clubs and activities, new groups at MCHS have scored a spot in this year’s parade.
Dennis Hutchinson, the Girls
Flag Football head coach believes that it is a great opportunity for the girls to be recognized for their achievements and to promote their program.
“I am excited for the girls to have an opportunity to participate in the homecoming festivities in a different way this year. They have worked so hard and are looking forward to it,” said Hutchinson. “The parade is a great event and I believe the whole community looks forward to it every year. It is so enjoyable because of the school spirit it spreads and connections it provides to our school to the greater McHenry community.”
As ‘Pack The Point’ begins for the first time this year, students and staff are excited for what the upcoming spirit week will bring, ending the week with the Homecoming Football Game against Crystal Lake South, and most importantly, the Homecoming Dance itself.
The parade is MCHS’s most visible Homecoming tradition. Moving from Veterans Memorial Park to the Freshman Campus on Oct. 6, Green Street will be lined by members of the Warrior Community young and old.
Photo
When it opened in 1924, MCHS’s Freshman Campus — formerly known as East Campus — was simply McHenry
School. This photo from 1951 shows how little the building has changed over time.
High
Photo By: The Warrior Yearbook
A hundred years in the making
Ethan Rassmussen Staff
Writer
McHenry has a rich history, starting as a small farm town, it would make way for one of the fastest growing cities in the state of Illinois
The Freshman Campus, previously known as just McHenry High School, was built one hundred years ago this year. Over that time McHenry, along with MCHS has evolved to fit the new age of McHenry residents.
McHenry has lived a thousand lives; starting as a little farm town, becoming a tourist attraction and now one of the fastest growing cities in Illinois.
“MCHS was initially a part of Landmark in 1893,” said Thomas Hillier, a McHenry librarian and member of the McHenry Historical Society. “By the 1920’s, school was becoming much more important, and Landmark just didn’t have the size in the school to hold all of those students anymore. So in 1924, they built one of the biggest buildings in the area, East Campus.”
McHenry’s population would sky rocket, as many new families found a place to live and make a home in. The influx of
people would help one of McHenry’s biggest strengths hold steadfast, its ability to change with the people that joined its community.
“East Campus became a landmark in McHenry,” said Hillier, “it quickly became a building that people could point towards and be proud about. The school grew as many people realized that farming was hard work, and just wasn’t for them.”
With Freshman Campus becoming a historical landmark in McHenry, the student body would soon outgrow one campus. Construction would soon begin on what is now known as Upper Campus, giving more opportunities and space for the growing McHenry community.
“The process was a bit different for us,” said Jill McEvoy, former MCHS guidance counselor and alumni. “We started out with two years at East and two years at West. A lot of the modernization it has now wasn’t done when I attended, it
really is beautiful now.”
Modernization would continue to be a big trend in McHenry with many new innovations, like McHenry’s riverwalk. McHenry would continue growing, not only for its student body but also for the families and adults that live here.
“The nickname for McHenry is ‘The Heart of the Fox,’” said Barry Phelps, MCHS building sub and McHenry resident for 17 years. “It’s beautiful how it has evolved. The biggest thing is it is modest and controlled. Despite all of its growth, it has never lost its small town feel. It has always kept its small town roots.”
McHenry’s history is rich and has continued growing with each passing year. Many people and events have left their marks on the ever growing town, and yet it has always stayed true to its roots. McHenry’s strongest quality is its ability to change and better itself for the people that reside in our small town.
Shining from the windows
For many years now, MCHS clubs and activities have participated in Paint the Town to involve the community during Homecoming Week
Lily Adams Editor-in-Chief
Band students paint windows during Paint the Town in preparation for Homecoming last September.
Photo By: Maddie Canada
The sidewalks of Green Street are flooded with students. Paint palettes and brushes occupy their hands. Slowly, the small street becomes illuminated with colors of orange, black and white, MCHS school spirit coming to the community for all to see.
MCHS has participated in Paint the Town for several years now, it is an event held during Homecoming Week where students head to local businesses in McHenry to paint the windows outside the shops.
“I love painting the town,” says Student Council President Grace Hunt, “because different clubs and teams are able to show off their organization and school spirit! It builds excitement around Homecoming and involves our community in our annual traditions.”
Paint the Town is sponsored by Student Council. Students often fill the windows with pictures related to the HOCO theme, their club or activity and many MCHS identities like name and school colors.
“Paint the Town is a way to get the community involved and excited about
Homecoming!” says StuCo advisor Samantha Carlson. “Not only does it allow the community to see when Homecoming is, but it adds school spirit to the town and … Homecoming tradition.”
MCHS connects with businesses to find places for students to paint. Businesses in the McHenry area enjoy having students decorate their windows for HOCO week.
“For planning we have a spreadsheet that says all the businesses that have participated in the past. We usually start by contacting them to see if they are interested in participating again,” says Jamie Rosinski, administrative assistant for the assistant principal. “Once we have the businesses confirmed we share the spreadsheet with all our activity advisors. From there the activities can sign up for the windows they want to paint, and put what day they are painting.”
“It’s fun to meet business owners and have our students collaborate with our community,” says StuCo advisor Stefanie Lukas.
Many students enjoy the fun time painting the windows after school hours
with friends.
“I have many cherished memories painting windows of local businesses with friends from Student Council,” Hunt says. “It is a enjoyable to plan out our design and make it look great!”
“The students certainly enjoy painting these windows,” says band advisor Ryan Cabildo. “It allows students in the Band Program to socialize with each other in a casual setting removed from the pressures of the rehearsal room and working with our instruments.”
Teachers and advisors also enjoy watching the students have fun along with community members.
“Environmental Club participates in paint the town because it’s one of the club’s most long-standing traditions,” says Environmental Club advisor Kaley Young. “It’s a great way to get a lot of students involved and really get into the homecoming spirit!”
This engaging tradition helps join the community and MCHS together. All get to enjoy the electrifying artwork shining from the windows of our small town.
Rose Wenckebach Artistic Director
Hole in one
As they swing through their successful season, the varsity golf team moves onto bigger and better competitions
The crowd goes silent as the Warriors step onto the course. The golf clubs in their bag shine in the hot sun. Kilynn Axelson lines up her club and takes a deep breath. Swinging her arms back, she hits the ball, continuing their winning streak for MCHS’s varsity girls golf.
On Saturday, Sep. 21, girls golf finished first place in the Mundelein Mustang Invite against 8 other teams. The girls had a team score of 370. With the competition getting heavier, the girls and their coaches have been training harder every day. Head Coach Sean Sterner has been training his team to success for the past 12 years.
“A winning team requires a great culture,” Sterner says. “The main value on our team is the word ‘together.’ We believe in supporting each other and being a great teammate no matter what. A team that cares about each other is a team that usually is successful.”
Winning competitions has always been a favorite part of being an athlete for some of the members of the team. For others like Senior Kilynn Axelson, it’s the feeling that goes along with it.
“Winning my championship was so exhilarating,” Axelson says. “All of the hard work me and my team put into ourselves to make ourselves better every day finally paid off.”
Not many people are aware of the achievements that the golf team has accomplished due to the little recognition in recent years.
“I do think we have received more recognition over the last few years,” Sterner says. “We’ve had a really good run lately. In 2022 we won the conference, in
2023 we made it as a team to Sectionals and this year our match record is 7-3.”
While earning the recognition it needed throughout the year, the golf team is also honoring the multiple seniors who have paved the way for the last 4 years on the golf course.
“The seniors have been awesome this year,” Sterner says, “I respect Emma Hertel, Kilynn Axelson and Jennifer Henry so much. This group won Conference as sophomores, made it to Sectionals as juniors and they’ve had a great season as seniors. My favorite memories are the day-to-day interactions I have with them and how close we have gotten
throughout the years.”
Seniors have many lasts, unfortunately including a goodbye to the teams and sports they have played. Athletes take the time to celebrate and cherish moments with their teams.
“One thing I will miss is all of the fun things me and my team have done through the years,” Axelson says. “Like when a conference had a rain delay and we all went on the bus and played all sorts of hype music.”
As their season closes, girls golf keeps being the supportive and competitive group they are. The girls move on to their regional meet on Oct. 1 At Pinecrest.
Varsity girls golfer Kilynn Axelson swings her club during a meet on Aug. 20 at Boone Creek Golf Club in Bull Valley.
Photo By: VIP
This year for Homecoming’s dance, MCHS’s students are looking for a mix of both the upbeat slow-dance worthy, along with some throwbacks and some recent chart-toppers.
Illustration By: Beth Brackmann
Dancing for a century
As MCHS prepares for its centennial Homecoming, we’ve put together a list of songs that will help make this year’s dance memorable
Every year when HOCO comes around, students at MCHS find some way to complain about the music. If every high school dance DJ tried to play every song that every kid wanted to hear we’d be in for a long night or couple nights come Oct. 12.
However, The McHenry Messenger gave it our best shot to make the best playlist for Homecoming 2024 with a good mix of slow dances, chart toppers and nostalgic throwbacks.
Of course “Circus” by Britney Spears was an insta-lock given this year’s
theme, but other typical suspects like “No Hands” by Waka Flocka Flame that’ll raise the energy to it’s peak and “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran for those of you bringing that special someone to HOCO got thrown in there because it really wouldn’t be HOCO without them.
More recent chart-toppers like “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar that took over the mainstream last summer found their way into the queue as well, next to throwbacks like “What Goes Around/Comes Around” by Justin Timberlake and “Hot In Herre” by Nelly
LISTEN NOW
Scan the code using your Spotify app to listen to this playlist
Gabe Santos Staff Writer
which would probably have gotten your mom and dad excited at their Homecoming dances.
The music we each listen to while getting ready for the beginning of the year dance is far more diverse with “Candy Shop” by 50 Cent and “Bodys” by Car Seat Headrest both on this playlist. Contrast between early 2000’s rap and midwest emo aside, the playlist definitely covers a lot of bases.
No matter what you listen to: Surely this year’s Homecoming will be memorable.
Yearbooks from previous decades show the Homecoming themes from the past 70 years. MCHS’s first Homecoming theme, “The Wizard of Oz,” was chosen in 1967.
Way back when
Each year, MCHS’s Homecoming theme has been a reflection of that school year. Here’s a list of themes from years gone by
Afton Ingraffia Staff Writer
Photo by: Afton Ingraffia
Dance themes have always been something to rave about, as they have been something constant throughout the decades. Every year the Student Council seniors determine what the Homecoming Dance theme is and they decorate accordingly, this year the theme is “Carnival.”
“I think themes are important because they make the Homecoming experience more unique for students,” Student Council Advisor Samantha Carlson says. “I think pop culture impacts the theme without us really realizing it does.”
The McHenry Messenger dug up some throwbacks of the dance history at MCHS to remind attendants of what their traditional high school Homecoming dances used to look like and maybe inspire a few to petition to bring back some of these beloved themes in the future.
2010
In 2010, you could easily tell MCHS likes to reminisce, the theme for that year’s homecoming was “the 1920s.” Students listened to jazz and grooved to the beat on this night full of smiles.
2005
In 2005, students danced the away night like they were in a fairytale aided by the decorations for the theme “happily ever after.”
1985
In 1985, MCHS decided to celebrate with another throwback theme, “time machine.” The students celebrated and honored some McHenry traditions throughout the week of the dance.
1980
In 1980, MCHS students celebrated their Homecoming “country” style. This year the queen and king were crowned with cowboy hats at this HOCO hoedown.
1970
In 1970 students attended Homecoming prepared to celebrate as courteously as if they were in the fantastical world of wonderland. The theme this year was “Alice in Wonderland” and the campus was decorated with murals and lights.
1967
The dance of 1967 was the first MCHS dance to ever have a theme. The gym was decorated to display the theme “The Wizard of Oz” based on the movie that came out in 1939.
- Senior Faith Riley
“I love Homecoming because it’s super fun and I get to spend time with all of my friends, and we just get to have a good time.”
Cheering beneath the Friday Night Lights, senior cheerleader Faith Riley revs up the crowd during a home varsity football game at McCracken Field on Sept. 13.
