A more meaningful Homecoming
Changes implemented to create more inclusion
The Homecoming nominees are elected every year by students. This year, staff have picked the nominees for students to choose from. There is a list of senior candidates and a list of junior candidates selected by teachers that believe they are a good representation and role model for the school. “The inclusiveness we are bringing is such a good change for the well being of the school,” sophomore Abby Jones said. “These nominees should be proud that they were noticed by staff for their outstanding behavior.”
September 16, 2022
On Sept. 8th, administration, Student Council and Prom sponsors worked together as a team and decided to change some things up for the Fall 2022 Homecoming event. The main changes revolve around how the Homecoming candidates are elected.
Administration has decided that the nominees will be the names of students chosen by all of the faculty and staff in the building. A Google Form was sent out to all staff members asking them to submit names of both male and female students they thought were exemplary characters and role models, similar to what the school has done in the past for selecting outstanding students. After the initial list of students is selected, students then vote on the Homecoming candidate through Google Form.
“Our goal is to get a better representation of Homecoming candidate’s and students at Millard West,” Student Council sponsor Mark Klein said. “By involving the staff in the process, we hope to accomplish this task.”
Student Council and Junior Class Board discussed at the end of last year that making some changes to Homecoming and Prom might provide a better representation of the overall student population at Millard West. They then took this to administration and together came up with these new changes implemented.
After the voting process is completed, the top student from the junior class will be elected Outstanding Junior and the top student from the senior class will be elected Outstanding Senior. However, all candidates will be acknowledged during the halftime of the football game on Thursday, Sept. 23, for being one of the candidates that has been recognised as an outstanding student.
“A major benefit for these students is that it is a higher honor to be selected by not only other students, but also the staff,” principal Dr. Greg Tiemann said. “We also wanted a process that gave students the reasons why a student should be nominated by using the Outstanding Student criteria that have been established for many years. Our turnout has been low in recent years and we wanted to improve it so the selection process represents all students.”
Students and staff have been notified of the changes that have been implemented and are prepared to take on homecoming with a few differences standing out.
“It really is no change at all,” sophomore Maya Murad said. “Homecoming is a fun time for everyone and their plan was to just make the election process more meaningful and inclusive.”
Homecoming will be held in Wildcat 1 on Saturday, Sept. 24 from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Candidates will be named the night before during halftime of the varsity football game.
