Coronado High School (CHS) celebrated a unique 2021 Homecoming week. Usually held in the fall with the traditional parade, football game and dance, this school year’s homecoming was planned by the Associated Study Body (ASB) for February with a variety of COVID-safe activities including Spirit Week, the Homecoming Court, a modified Homecoming Parade, Crowning Ceremony, and a Drive-In Movie for students to celebrate school pride.
Spirit Week, February 16 to 19, engaged all of Coronado High School with themed days. Tuesday was “Green Out Day” with CHS students wearing the school color Islander Green. Wednesday was “Disney Day” with clothing and social media posts relating to Disney movies, trips, or shows (derived from the “Enchanted Forest” homecoming theme). Thursday was “Nature Day” with CHS students using social media to highlight their favorite places outdoors. Friday was “Class Shirt Day” when students wore their class shirts designed by members of each class.
Throughout the week, ASB hosted on-campus games with freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors competing for glory. The obstacle course challenge brought victory to the Class of 2022 thanks to a stellar showing by Nico DiMatteo. A rapid drawing contest gave the freshmen class their first win with Bella Loiselle’s image of Zoom. The seniors claimed first place in the dance challenge with Sofia Symon’s ‘21 moves. The final competition was Friday’s water balloon fight where Wayne Mckinney ‘21 helped the senior class cement their place as champions.
In past years, the Friday afternoon Homecoming Parade took place along Orange Avenue with community members lining the sidewalks and median. COVID-19 restrictions this year led ASB to plan a modified version of the parade around Coronado where cheering residents lined residential sidewalks on Friday, February 19. Each class decorated a car or golf cart corresponding to the “Enchanted Forest” Homecoming theme and their class’ specific Disney movie: seniors represented Tangled, juniors had Winnie the Pooh, sophomores recreated Alice in Wonderland, and freshmen decorated for The Jungle Book. As in years past, the floats were judged, and the 2021 winner was the seniors’ Tangled float.
The line up for the 2021 Homecoming Parade included a golf cart with the CHS Principal and Vice Principals, cars with each of the 12 members of the Homecoming Court, and the four decorated class floats. Cate Carlson drove the Principals and said, “It was so fun to see so many people lining the sidewalks around town!” Students from each of the classes gathered at designated Coronado parks to showcase their class spirit and cheer on the parade.
Members of the Homecoming Court were twelve CHS seniors nominated by the students of CHS. The 2021 Homecoming Court included: Daniel Bell, Jack Duporque, Danny Erskine, Ellie Johnson, Jenevieve Joseph, Kelli Morris, Reese Packard, Lily Roughneen, Brady Roulier, Sydney Slaughter, Noah Wahamaki, and Ella Worthy.
Immediately after the parade, the Homecoming Court and their families gathered at CHS Niedermeyer field for the Crowning Ceremony. Only members of ASB and the Homecoming Court and their families were allowed to attend. After presentations of each member of the court, escorted by a family member, Noah Wahamaki and Jenevieve Joseph were announced as the 2021 CHS Homecoming King and Queen. The event was livestreamed on the Coronado ASB Instagram (@coronadoasb) and can be viewed here.
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Homecoming King Noah shared his experience winning as, “Ethereal. Time felt really slow, and I guess I was smoothly surprised that it was even happening. I felt truly honored that my classmates had voted for me to be on the Homecoming court, content just to be there. So it did come as a shock when I was crowned Homecoming King.”
Homecoming Queen Jenevieve Joseph shared, “Being voted Homecoming queen was such an honor to be recognized by my peers. I felt like all of my hard work throughout high school had paid off.”
The final event of Homecoming week took place on Sunday, February 21 with a drive-in movie showing of the 1982 classic, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, at the Santee Drive-In Movie Theater. ASB member Riley McGrath mentioned, “We planned the Drive-In Movie to bring CHS students together and give them a fun event in the absence of the Homecoming Dance. It was amazing because the Drive In worked out to be great way to celebrate Homecoming in a safe and fun way!”
Like everything else this school year, Homecoming was different than prior celebrations. But ASB ensured that CHS students could safely celebrate school pride and class spirit with a Homecoming to remember.
Watch the ASB Homecoming Special here:
http://coronadotv.me/chs/02182021-1080
