In preparation for Homecoming Week, Student Council engaged in numerous discussions to decide the ideal theme and process. After extensive planning, RBHS seniors can place their votes to nominate their homecoming court this Friday in the commons. Student Council representative senior Whitney Cravens explains said the theme is “Land of the Free, Home of the Bruins,” was meant to represent RBHS’s love for America and was an idea simple enough to get a large majority of the student body involved.
“The theme is very patriotic,” Cravens said, “and it incorporates both the history of culture in the United States, with ’90s day, and just patriotism in general, like the red, white and blue and camo days.”
This specific idea for homecoming was not merely derived from the decision of Student Council members, rather the entire student body had the opportunity to contribute to the decision, senior Kelsey Harper said.
“We actually allowed students to vote on the theme on the school web page,” Harper said, “and we chose the America theme because it had an overwhelming majority vote by the student body.”
Though the process of selecting a theme is typical of homecoming every year at RBHS, Cravens explains a new concept that RBHS plans to introduce for homecoming week. This unique program for homecoming will benefit both the population at RBHS and the community as a whole through a competition with other schools across the country, according to Cravens.
“This year for homecoming, we are doing something really special and exciting,” Cravens said. “We are getting Rock Bridge as an entire school involved with something our Partners in Education, State Farm, is sponsoring. It’s called ‘Celebrate my Drive’ and it’s a campaign to promote safe driving. Whichever school has the most pledges by students, faculty, parents and community members, to drive safely over the week of October 18-26, wins a $100,000 grant for their school, as well as a Kelly Clarkson concert.”A
Looking forward to the prospect of change in this year’s homecoming week, Cravens is assured that RBHS has a high chance of obtaining the $100,000 grant. The prospect of a large amount of student involvement and the significant meaning behind the program convinces Cravens that the competition will result in a triumph for RBHS.
“We decided to do ‘Celebrate my Drive’ for homecoming because not only does it fall on the same week as homecoming, but it’s an opportunity to win a lot of money for our school, which we definitely need. And it’s something a lot of people can get involved with, and trust me, we want everyone involved. And it promotes safe driving, so why not.”
Although ‘Celebrate my Drive’ is new to RBHS homecoming week, Student Council representative senior Sam Ryan said a few traditions will remain unchanged.
“After a lot of discussion and disagreements for changing the process of electing queen candidates, one was proposed in Student Council last year, and reintroduced this year,” Ryan said, “Student Council has decided to maintain the same election process for the queen candidates and the homecoming queen.”
By Manal Salim
