Homecoming 2025

In this article, Audrey will describe the events and traditions of Homecoming 2025, including Spirit Week, court and crowning, hall decorating, the Cavalcade Parade, the pep rally, the football game, and the Homecoming dance.

Homecoming 2025

By: Audrey Roetling

Every year, Grants Pass High School hosts Homecoming, which includes a series of events and traditions-- Spirit Week, lunch activities, sticker drop, crowning, football game, Cavalcade Parade, hall decorating, and the assembly-- that culminate in the first dance of the school year at the end of the week. This year, the Homecoming dance will take place on Sat., Oct. 4, 2025, from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., and the theme will be “A Night in Rio", which envisions a rich tropical rainforest with vibrant colors, feathers, and sparkling water. Tickets will be sold by the bookkeeper in advance for $12, but they will be sold for $15 at the door. Guest forms are due on Wed., Oct. 1.

Spirit Week

The first event that kicks off Homecoming is Spirit Week. This year, the themes include Teen Beach Mon., in which people should wear tropical, summer attire; Brain-Rot Tues., featuring anything that relates to online references or video games; Sports Star vs Pop Star, when you should dress like a sports player or musician; Twin Day, which is dress the same as a friend; and a White Out theme on Fri., which is tradition for the Homecoming dance. In a Scroll interview with Aylin Cruz, a member of Leadership's Spirit Committee, she stated: "My favorite spirit day this week is Teen Beach Monday because people can dress for sunshine and warm weather, even when the weather is becoming colder and cloudier."

Image by: GPHS Leadership

Spirit Week counting happens four days a week-- on Mon., Tues., Wed., and Fri. during fourth period. On Thurs., students can go to the front office to redeem 5-Star points for dressing up, which notably has the highest chance of winning prizes because individuals have to remember to get scanned in on their own time. Leadership reports the number of dressed-up individuals per class on a counting spreadsheet, which automatically converts to a percentage, according to the number of individuals in a classroom. Smaller classes can still win if they reach a higher percentage of the fourth-period class that has dressed up. During counting, students also gain 5-Star points by giving their student ID numbers to Leadership students or by having their student ID scanned. After being scanned, they can get candy or Homecoming stickers passed out to them. In addition to 5-Star points, students can win prizes by redeeming their points during Tues. lunches in the foyer. This is also how students are entered to win larger, individual prizes for Spirit Week. Every day, ten students are randomly selected from the 5-Star to win a prize from the front office, such as a candy bar, a random toy, or crazy socks. Then, one larger prize winner is drawn every day of Spirit Week. Prizes include a digital camera, speakers, blanket, Owala, and pickleball paddles. There will be one grand prize winner who will win a cardboard cutout of Mr. Zaina at the end of the week, if they dress up for Mon., Tues., Wed., and Fri.

Court and CrowNing

Homecoming nominations are sent out as a Google Form during study hall, which this year was on Tues., Sept. 16. Students elect one male and one female from their grade to nominate. The top two individuals from each gender of each grade are selected as winners, so that there are sixteen individuals on the Homecoming court. The only rule is that individuals cannot serve on Homecoming court for two years consecutively, so if an individual was already nominated, the position will go to third place. Also, individuals who serve on Homecoming court will not be able to serve on Winter Ball court that same year; however, they could win for Prom court since that is run by the National Honor Society, which operates by a different system. From these nominations, a Google Form is sent off to vote for the Homecoming King and Queen (selected from the upperclassmen) and the Duke and Duchess (selected from the underclassmen). This form was sent off during study hall on Tues., Sept. 30.

Each winner will be called out of class to collect their gift basket and crown or tiara. They will also be asked to fill out a questionnaire of information that may be used when they are introduced at the pep rally or when they are walked out onto the football field for the crowning of the queen. This year, the students nominated for court include: for freshmen, Marly Hill, Luna Wall, Griffin DeKrugger, Luke Tousley; for sophomores, Mattie Tierney, Alura Curtis, Alton Wickburg, Jaxon Salhus; for juniors, Lara Santana, Emme Randall, Jordan Rossetta, Alejandro Leon; and seniors Brittney Fisher, Brooklyn Harwood, Nathan Bassett, and Cole Ireland. Nominated sophomore Alton Wickburg described his experience on Homecoming court as "quite surreal" and characterized it as "unique, fun, and surprising." When asked about potential improvements to the crowning process at the high school, Alton stated: “I think it is a pretty good system, but maybe introducing incentives to encourage voting participation, such as being entered in a raffle just for voting.”

Hall Decorating

Hall decorating is an event where students can cut out large paper designs, hang lights, and paint with their grade level. Every hall in the core building has its own theme, which is based on the Homecoming theme-- with some years being more loosely based on the theme than others. Each grade level is assigned a hallway in the core building: seniors were given the north upstairs core; juniors, the south upstairs core; sophomores, the north downstairs core; and freshmen, the south downstairs core. Since the theme is “A Night in Rio”, which is a Rio de Janeiro theme, the hallways will also be based on locations: the freshmen hallway's theme is Egypt; the sophomore hallway, Greece; the junior hallway, Tokyo; and the senior hallway is Paris. Leadership will decorate the core building foyer using a Rio de Janeiro theme and will also decorate the dance according to the theme on Sat., Oct. 4, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., which is an opportunity to volunteer to all students at the high school.

Decorations were ordered prior to the hall decorating event, provided by the grade representatives of the Advanced Leadership class and the Intro to Leadership class for freshmen. Leadership sometimes assists in making decorations, such as cutting out large paper items to hang up beforehand, but the event usually requires individuals who are willing to cut out, draw or paint designs to match landscapes. Less artistic individuals who would like to make contributions can decorate the ceiling, hanging lights or other items.

Cavalcade parade

The Cavalcade parade is an off-campus event on the Wed. before Homecoming. In the past, this event included the marching band, color guard, cheerleaders, and representatives from fall sports parading around the block-- surrounding the high school and playing the fight song before the football game. Often, fall activities will have floats assembled or make poster boards to represent their corresponding activity. Lately, the Cavalcade parade has been reconstructed as an event to include other D7 schools in Homecoming. Now, football players, cheerleaders, fall sports representatives, and Leadership students appear at the elementary and middle schools and hand out stickers and candy to the students, encouraging them to attend the White Out Game on that Fri.

Pep Rally

The Homecoming pep rally includes a series of games featuring fall athletes, as well as the introduction of Homecoming Court. The pep rally begins with an introduction from the band and cheer team as students enter the stands of the Mel Ingram football field. Then, there will be a processional period of information, including information about the Homecoming Dance. Then there will be a series of games from representatives from girls soccer, boys soccer, volleyball, Cross Country, and football. Afterward, the members of Homecoming Court will be introduced, using information from questionnaires they filled out in advance, the student will arrive on the field in old fashioned cars. The Duke, Duchess, and Homecoming King will be announced at the assembly; however, the Homecoming Queen will not be declared until the White Out football game. At the end of the assembly, the Marching Band and Color Guard will present their “Swan Lake” routine that they perform at competitions in front of the whole school.

White Out Football Game

The Homecoming football game is on Fri. Oct 3 and the theme is White Out. The community Cavalcade parade begins after school, preceding the game with the celebratory fight song. The game begins at 7 p.m. and will be against South Medford. T-shirt sales for the White Out game are sold to students throughout the week of Homecoming, during both lunches in the foyer. The t-shirts cost students $12 each, sweatshirts are $25, and every purchase comes with a free Homecoming sticker.

At halftime, the marching band and color guard perform their show “Swan Lake”, and then the Homecoming Queen is crowned. The Duke, Duchess, and King will have been previously announced at the football game. All of the females who are nominated, including the underclassmen, are walked out to the football game with a script introducing them, which is read on the intercom. They are walked down by an escort, such as a father, uncle, brother, or influential role model in their life, while dressed in their formal dresses and often wearing tiaras. After everyone has been introduced, the queen is crowned in front of the stadium.

There will also be a block party following the game. Block parties were introduced to GPHS this year and are run by the football team. It is where members of the community and high school can listen to music, watch game replays, and order food from trucks following the football game. The block party starts at the end of the game and continues until about 11:15 p.m.

Homecoming Dance

The Homecoming Dance is happening on Sat., Oct. 4, from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. in the GPHS commons, with access to the quad and entrance through the science building. The theme, which is "A Night in Rio," will be an experience of the vivid colors and infectious rhythms of Rio de Janeiro, with some references to the movie Rio found in the decorations. The dance space will be surrounded by sparkling leaves, bold hibiscus flowers, and festive feathers. There will be a dramatic balloon drop, filling the crowd with vibrantly colored balloons by the DJ stand, towards the end of the dance.

Image by: Disney

Homecoming is one of the biggest events at the start the school year, and provides many opportunities, including performance events from the marching band, color guard, football team, cheerleaders, and Leadership. Many of the events also include opportunities for the whole student body and event community, such as the opportunity to participate in Spirit Week, win prizes, go to the football game, attend the pep rally, be nominated for Homecoming Court, attend the Cavalcade Parade, decorate the hallways and, of course, attend the dance.

Sources:

Alton Wickburg, Nominee for Homecoming Court
Aylin Cruz, Member of Leadership Spirit Committee

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