On Sunday, MCHS will be celebrating Homecoming week by having clubs and sports parade through downtown McHenry alongside the Homecoming court.
MCHS has a tradition to start off Homecoming week with a parade. Sports and clubs at MCHS decorate floats that represent themselves and celebrate Homecoming week. The route will begin at Veteran’s Memorial Park and it will end at Miller Point. There, everyone will listen to the choir sing, and wait for the Student Council to announce the Homecoming king and queen.
Float decorating will begin at 10 a.m. and everyone else should arrive no later than 12 p.m. The floats are on a first come first serve basis, so there is no particular order for the floats.
“I’m really excited for ‘Pack the Point’ to occur again this year,” junior Eli Hunt said. “I like that everyone has a place to go after the parade instead of going home and not creating an environment for the spirit of Homecoming week.”
Students and staff are excited for Homecoming week to begin and bring the community together to see what kind of culture MCHS has.
“I’m looking forward to seeing everyone that makes McHenry special,” junior Leah Atkinson said. “I like when people bring their kids and have them sing along with the choir and throw them candy.”
MCHS’s school spirit and participation is a culture boost to all of MCHS and the McHenry community.
“I do believe that the parade raises the school spirit immensely,” said junior Matt Zurawski. “It gets not only students, but members of the community excited for what is to come.”
Since adding Pack the Point last year to the end of the parade route, it gets everyone to celebrate the Homecoming court along with other festivities being held.
“Everyone’s got to show up to find out the Homecoming court,” said Hunt, “so adding Pack the Point last year made Homecoming more special to MCHS.”
The choir always finds a perfect playlist of songs to sing during the parade that go along with the Homecoming theme. This year, they are including songs from the movie, “The Little Mermaid.”
The Homecoming parade is an important ongoing tradition at MCHS.
“I think the parade is important because it is a good way to show off all of the clubs, teams, and organizations that are present at MCHS,” said Zurwaski. “It is a good way for the smaller clubs to get recognition, and it shows other current students and future students the opportunities that they have.”