Homecoming in the Past

Many years ago, Exeter High School held a tailgate and a Homecoming dance during the week of the Winnacunnet vs. Exeter rivalry games. Our privileges to have these events at the end of the Homecoming week have been redacted since 2015, but the traditional activities held during the week remain the same. 

Monday through Friday, the Exeter High School community participated in dress-up themes and a pep rally at the end of the week, just as we do currently. There was an activity every day in preparation for the fall sports to take on our rivals. On Saturdays, the traditional tailgate was held where our Bluehawks could make posters for the games, play yard games like cornhole or spikeball, cook food on the grills, use the slip n’ slide, get their faces painted, throw water balloons at each other, and more. This tailgate was a period in the day where the entire class could hang out and spend time together before the dance that night. Since we don’t have a dance anymore, we also don’t have the opportunity to experience the tailgate either, which is saddening to some. It doesn’t seem fair that the thousands of students that have gone, and continue to go through Exeter High School should be punished for the behaviors of a few students from  nearly a decade ago. Students have shown their ability to be responsible and respectful for the rules at other events such as junior and senior proms and other school sanctioned events.

The students at Exeter now have to wait until their junior and senior year to gather with their class and make memories that most other schools get to do their freshman or sophomore year. In the past few years, parents of the current freshman and sophomore students have planned off campus dances that have proved to be successful. This should be evidence to the Exeter administration that the new student body can handle a responsibility such as attending a school dance and acting maturely and respectfully.