Who gets to feel like they are part of Homecoming at your school?
It sounds like a simple question, but the answer can tell you quite a bit about school culture.
Homecoming is more than a theme week, game, dance or pep assembly. For many schools, it is one of the first major culture moments of the year and an early opportunity to remind students that school is not just a place they attend. It is a place they belong.
The dress-up days start, the hallways change, the announcements get louder, and somewhere in the building an adviser is asking, “Where is the tape?” and “Who approved this theme?” and, inevitably, “Please do not plug that extension cord into another extension cord.”
Beautiful, magical school spirit.
In the middle of all that activity, Homecoming also gives administrators an early look at who feels connected to school and who may still be standing on the outside.
Look Beyond Who Participates
Every school has students who jump into Homecoming without hesitation. They dress up, attend the game, know the traditions and already understand where they fit. Others watch from the outside. Maybe they are new, haven’t found their group yet, can’t afford another outfit or dance ticket, or simply don’t see themselves in the way the week has traditionally been designed.
That makes Homecoming a useful belonging conversation with your student leaders.
Before plans are completely locked in, ask your student council, leadership class, activities director or adviser:
- Who usually participates in homecoming activities?
- Who might feel like this week isn’t really for them?
- Are cost, transportation or social expectations creating barriers for some students?
- Are there opportunities for students to participate without being loud, outgoing, dressed up, or front and center?
- What is one thing we could change to make participation easier?
Then let students solve it. Part of developing student leaders is teaching them to look beyond their own experience and consider the school they are leading.
Create More Ways In
Not every student wants to wear a full costume on Tuesday, scream through Friday’s pep assembly and spend Saturday night at the dance. That doesn’t mean they lack school spirit.
Encourage your leadership team to create different entry points into the week. Keep the traditions and big events, but mix in low-barrier options such as school color days, lunch trivia, song voting, shout-out walls, scavenger hunts, classroom challenges, spirit stickers, or a “represent your club, team, activity or favorite class” day.
None of these ideas are groundbreaking, and that’s OK. The goal is to create more moments where a student can look at something happening at school and think, “I can do that.”
Small participation can lead to connection, and connection is often the first step toward greater involvement.
Use Homecoming as a Culture Check
As Homecoming unfolds, take a walk.
Watch the hallways during Spirit Week. Stop by lunch. Pay attention at the assembly. Ask a few students what they think. Notice who is participating and, just as importantly, who isn’t.
Homecoming can be a surprisingly useful informal culture check early in the year. Which traditions bring students together? Where are the barriers? Who has found their place? Where could your student leaders create another way in?
Your advisers and student leaders are already doing the hard work of building the week. A few intentional questions from school leadership can help them see that their work is bigger than themes, decorations and ticket sales. They are creating experiences that shape how students feel about their school.
So keep Homecoming fun. Keep the traditions, ridiculous outfits, hallway decorations and all the controlled chaos that comes with it. Just make sure your school’s plans have enough entry points so that all students can find one that feels like theirs.
Because one of the best things Homecoming can do is remind all students early in the year: There is a place for you here and you belong.