Written By: Riley McNelly

Williams, as you may know is a very small town. The total number of students at WHS may easily be the same amount as one may have in a single class at a larger school. With us being a small school, it is easy to say that we would be considered one big family. A family who strives towards victory in our athletics, works towards perfection in our academics, and comes together to celebrate the sacred traditions we have here in our school community.

If you have or are going to school at WHS you know we have many traditions that we enjoy continuing from years past. Like most high schools, we have homecoming. Except here in Williams homecoming isn’t just celebrated by the school the rest of the town celebrates, too. Every year the town holds a parade. In this parade each class is asked to build a float and given a theme. There is a contest as to which class has the best float, which is why each class gets very competitive.

Within the school we also have many traditions. Each class is assigned a hallway which they get to decorate with their class color, this as you may have guessed is also extremely competitive. The homecoming courts are also escorted through the parade on backs of trucks. There are also many different physical activities the students partake in. Girls from each class will form a powder-puff team, coached by the boys who play football in their class. Seniors play the Sophomores, while Freshman play the Juniors. The two who win out of those games face each other for the final game. For the boys there is volleyball, which is normally way less organized, and way less coordinated, as you know the boys just like completely smashing the ball down from the net at any given moment. And of course there are the legitimate homecoming games. During the football games the homecoming court is announced and the results for the King and Queen are revealed. There are fireworks and bunches of people in the stands cheering and shouting.

Other traditions we have at WHS are pep rallies which normally tend to be very loud and spirited. There are spirit competitions held between all the classes, as well as many other fun games and activities. More traditions we have that don’t seem too significant is packing the stands full of people for nearly every sports event. Williams has a very strong and supportive community. You know all the movies where there’s a screaming crowd filled with people who are just ecstatic to be a part of it, along with all the lights and the celebrating? That would be the most accurate way to describe the support our athletes get here in Williams. Anyone from here would easily say we are very spirited.

And finally we have our senior night and our holiday tournament. Our senior night we honor each and every senior who have spent the last four years learning and working towards their futures. We honor their accomplishments they’ve made in the sports they play as well as their academics. They and their family are brought to the front along with telling their hopes for their futures. Then, of course, we have our annual basketball Holiday Tournament. The school had been hosting it for years, but then they stopped. Back in 1996, Mr. Echeverria brought back the Holiday Tournament and since then it has become a very popular event. In the tournament different teams from many different regions travel to one spot to play basketball.

In all, Williams is just one huge family. You may hear people from large cities saying high school wasn’t anything special. That’s coming from someone who didn’t get the opportunity to have the family we have. We come together to show support, and to make memories that will stay with us forever.