The phrase, “everything is bigger in Texas” is not lost on high school homecoming festivities in Texas. In many cases, the bigger and more outrageous, the better. Like most things, it brings out the best and sometimes most questionable in all of us.
Homecoming once looked like this lovely pic of WHS 1957~1958 “Football Sweetheart” Barbara Cooper. Times have changed from this elegant affair to a “super-sized” version of the celebration we enjoy today.
The Evolution
Check out this mum from WEHS homecoming last year. Yep, that mum requires a neck harness. A NECK HARNESS! When a clothing accessory is so big it requires engineering, we take notice. The kids love it, we love it and you have to admire the simple physical fitness of a kid willing to wear these all day.
I did not remember mums of this size growing up in Dalhart, Texas. My memory included a real flower with a purple and gold ribbon, and hand crafted “D” somehow attached to the front.
What I failed to remember is that we had our own version of crazy in the 1980’s version of this pageantry.
Your status was then reflected by the number of homecoming mums a young lady could collect and wear the evening of homecoming and perhaps the length of your date’s mullet.
(I had one too, it was an 80’s requirement.)
The Rebels
I will never forget this social media post of WEHS National Merit Finalist and one of the best kids on the planet, Jaxson Hill. His HOCO tribute to homecoming festivities was awesome. These mega-mums have a lot of “stuff” on them. Jaxson dedicated his day to cleaning the halls and collecting what fell off. He crafted his own mum from the excess, AWESOME! I don’t think a special girl received it, but well done sir, well done.
My daughter Kate (the one on the right) fashions herself as the original rebel. She convinced her friends to skip the mum and create their own overalls to celebrate WHS pride! Even though I am fearful this is a gateway drug to Texas A&M, I had to admit they turned out pretty cool.
Home
To write this blog, I reached out to graduates of my own alma-mater and loved every minute of it. Reconnecting with friends, sharing memories, seeing pictures of the past made me smile.
We are home to more than 16,500 students and growing. Our essential goal we share is to keep Wylie ISD feeling like you are home, you are family and you are special. We remain committed to events like homecoming parades, mums, spirit wear, crowning homecoming royalty and celebrating kids.
No matter how you celebrate, we want our students to think of our schools as their home. School is a safe place where you feel pride, wear a giant fake flower, make your own flower or your own overalls. Homecoming isn’t always about graduates coming home to visit, it’s about celebrating that our kids in school believe our schools are their second home.
Wylie High School kicks off homecoming season tonight and Wylie East Raiders will celebrate the season on October 26th. Regardless of where your kid goes to school, come to the game tonight or take time to attend the parade WEHS will host on October 22 in Downtown Wylie at 6:30. You will not regret it. Home is where the heart is and helping our kids understand that our schools are their second home is the Wylie Way! Welcome home!
