It’s officially fall, which means Homecoming (Hoco)! This year, Hoco, planned and ran by Student Leadership, took place the week of October 6th through 11th. It brought many things including spirit week, powderpuff, a football game, a pep assembly, and a school dance.

For Spirit Week, the days were Berkley Spirit/Color Day, Tropical Tuesday, Western Wednesday, Soccer Parent vs Grill Master, and Class Colors. Lillian Swaninger, a junior in student leadership and chair of the spirit week committee, explained that they picked these spirit weeks because they wanted more participation from the students, and they thought these were easy to do. When asked which one was her favorite, she said, “I love class colors because it’s fun to see everyone in their different colors, and it’s one that a lot of people participate in.” She also added that Berkley wear is a new one that they haven’t done yet.

Another fun aspect of Hoco week is Powderpuff, where junior and senior girls were able to compete against each other on Oct. 7. Powderpuff, a Homecoming tradition that has been around for decades, is a flag football game coached by boys on the varsity football team. The junior coaches were: Henry Herron, Connor Hambright, Aiden Oudbier, Ian Phillip, Henry Samson, and Jaylen Kujat. The senior coaches were: Connor Baker, Noah Lambertsen, Carlos Harvey, Mackinley Howard, Dominic Gigliotti, and Bobby Wade. The girls who signed up got shirts with a number and a nickname of their choice on the back, and the boys got a coach’s shirt. The shirts were blue for seniors and red for juniors. Camryn Niyo, a sophomore in student leadership and a member of the powderpuff committee, said that she was most looking forward to the 50/50 raffle at powderpuff. “People buy raffle tickets at the game and then whoever wins gets to keep half the money,” Niyo explained. She also added that it was a really good fundraiser for student leadership. The first touchdown of the game was scored by junior Jaden Reithel. She intercepted the ball and ran it across the field into the endzone, which brought the juniors to lead the game 6-0. The first half ended with a score of 6-6 after senior Blessing Nweke scored a touchdown to tie the game. In the second half, the seniors took the lead after a touchdown from Mari Strat. Nweke scored her second touchdown of the game, bringing the seniors to lead the juniors 18-6, which was the final score.

Next, on Friday, Oct. 10, the varsity football team played Avondale at home and won with the final score being 27-8. The theme was class colors. During halftime, there were performances from the school marching band, the JV and varsity cheer teams combined, and the dance team.

The pep assembly was held in the West Gym from 2:45-3:30 on Friday afternoon. Marley Kobernick and Vega Nischan were the MCs and announced the entire event. At the beginning of the pep assembly, the marching band played the fight song, and the students in the crowd sang along. After that, the varsity fall sports teams, including unified soccer, ran around the gym, each team holding a sign with their sport on it. The national anthem was sung, and then the games began. The games that student leadership planned were jumbo cup pong, wig snatching, mattress sliding, and tug of war. A few students from each grade were selected from the crowd to participate in each game. The seniors ended up winning every game! Hoco court was crowned after wig snatching; two students won from each grade. There were also performances from encore, the cheer teams, and the dance team throughout the assembly. To wrap it up, the MCs announced a spirit week raffle winner from each grade, and also announced that the seniors were in first place for spirit points!

Overall, Hoco had a lot to offer. There were many different aspects to enjoy and participate in, whether it was the dance, pep assembly, the football game, spirit week, or powderpuff. When asked what her favorite part was, Mrs. Nixon, the teacher of student leadership, responded, “Seeing everyone get engaged with the themes and with their class as they go to all the events and have a good time.” Swaninger agreed that her favorite part is seeing everybody enjoying the things they plan for Homecoming, and added, “I love the student body coming together and participating in the pep rally and the whole week, and I think it’s so fun seeing everybody at the dance.”