On October 2, 2022, MCHS students took to the streets of downtown McHenry to celebrate the start of Homecoming week. Fourteen floats and hundreds of students paraded for the community members throughout the sunny afternoon. 

While the homecoming parade has been a long-running tradition at MCHS, this year’s celebration had a new twist to it as members and advisors of Student Council moved the event to a weekend and changed the route, in which the floats and students would parade through. The head of the Student Council, Mrs. Leah Pelletier, explains the reason behind these changes.  “To get the community involved and be able to see everybody out there being on a Sunday now as opposed to being in the middle of the week, I think a lot of people will be able to show up for it,” explained Pelletier. 

By changing the parade to a weekend, Pelletier and the Student Council hoped to include more community members, such as Joel Thomas, who came out to support the school.”It’s very exciting to see all the floats and see my kids participate, and everyone having a good time.” explained Thomas.

The afternoon festivities ended with a ceremony to honor homecoming court and crown homecoming king and queen as well as announce the winning parade float. Senior Lynette Alsot stated, “I think it was a really cool accomplishment because we put in a lot of work and just making it fun.” Seniors Evan Griffiths and Alivia Adams were voted on by the student body to be crowned as Homecoming King and Queen. “For me it means…the world to me, especially with [Alivia],” explained Griffiths. 

The new format of the Homecoming parade was a smashing success for everyday involved, and helped to bridge the gap between the school and the McHenry Community.