Homecoming: a simple tradition for other schools, where alumni return and relive the excitement of the Friday night lights. Here at Del Norte, however, it’s not really a tradition yet— the week of October 22 marked our first real Homecoming.
And boy, did we do it right. From the parade to showcase our class floats, fall teams and homecoming court, to the return of our school’s first set of alumni, to the winning football game against Orange Glen, this Homecoming proved to be a great display of Del Norte’s growth and evolution.
But why this year? What makes this year even more special than the rest? We’ve been making little changes and improvements to our school since its opening. We could have brought this change about in any of the previous years, right?
Not true. First of all, at its core, homecoming is about alumni doing just that, coming home to their high school. This year is the first year that Del Norte has had graduates to return, albeit one class, but a class nonetheless.
But it’s deeper than that. With the departure of last year’s seniors, this year’s Class of 2013 found themselves in a situation where they had all the power of a school that hadn’t really identified itself. Caught in this leadership position, the seniors chose to create a legacy and leave a mark on their high school by transforming it into a beacon of spirit.
And in the seniors’ attempt to leave a mark on Del Norte, Del Norte has left a mark on the seniors. This situation has turned passive followers into an active class of leaders. And that, more than the parade or the game or the dance, is what made our first-ever Homecoming so special.