Homecoming for a Cause
Written by: Ashley Johnson,Kelsey Koeneman
When our Student Government sponsor stepped down, Ashley Johnson & I decided we needed even more of an excuse to visit and call each other throughout the school day. When autumn rolled around, one of our first major events was Homecoming. Our school, like most secondary schools in the Midwest, had its own homecoming traditions and events in practice. Think: spirit days, football games, powderpuff, and the eventual crowning of a king and a queen. We were excited and ready to get planning on the fun, but the deeper we went into the planning process, we realized this fun was only partaken in by a small group of students.
“We wanted our student government to intentionally create thoughtful leaders in our community who inspire the entire school to get involved.”
We did a lot of brainstorming before we came to the conclusion that we wanted our student government to intentionally create thoughtful leaders in our community who inspire the entire school to get involved. Our question then became, “How can we get EVERY student involved in homecoming?” and “How can it be about more than a popularity contest for king and queen?” The answer: Homecoming for Cause!
September 20th marked our third annual Homecoming for a Cause week at DeKalb High School. We still have most of the traditional events we began with, but with a philanthropic twist. During Homecoming for a Cause Week, the entire school gets involved in various philanthropic efforts aimed at fundraising.
- Traditional: One tradition that remains is the homecoming royalty court. Two representatives are chosen from the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes while ten representatives are chosen from the senior class. From this group of seniors, the entire student body will vote on the king and queen.
- Twist: When the student body votes for their king and queen, they are not only voting for the person but the organization they represent. Although students are still paired off, each individual represents a different local nonprofit. All the money collected from the week is split between the local charities that the winning king and queen have chosen to represent.
In 2022, Katie Waters was crowned the first Homecoming for a Cause Queen. Watch to learn how Katie felt about winning and being able to donate funds to our local humane society.
There is much more to Homecoming for a Cause than just the king and queen! Our goal is to increase student participation throughout the week and help them feel at home at their school. While fundraising is an extremely important portion of our week, we make sure there are both free and paid ways that students can support throughout the week.
- Traditional: We still have a week in which each day is dedicated to a different theme or dress-up day for our students to participate in.
- Twist: Class Shirts and Powderpuff Merch had a small markup that contributed to the week’s fundraising efforts. Additionally, students could pay $1 to wear a hat on Friday with their class shirts.
- Twist Continued: Trivia Tuesday! During homeroom time on Tuesday, students could pay a dollar to play a trivia game and win some awesome prizes. Students from every grade level were present at this event.
“It meant a lot to me to be able to start a tradition of goodwill in an event that traditionally wasn’t used for anything but giving two people a crown. I loved being able to give back to my local community( and local animals), and I felt that I had done something good by winning! “ — Katie Waters – 1st Homecoming for a Cause Queen
Over 100 students chose to contribute to Homecoming for a Cause through Trivia & Hat Day efforts.
- Traditional: Each year, our school puts on a traditional powderpuff game. Junior girls face off with the senior girls to see who is the best at flag football. Typically, they are cheered on by a large quantity of friends, parents, and community members from the stands. Students and their families enjoy watching the junior girls take on the senior girls in a game of flag football. We use the scoreboard and have announcers, the whole 9 yards (pun intended).
- Twist: Before the powderpuff game, students could purchase tickets to play carnival games to win prizes and/or a chance to dunk a teacher in the dunk tank. Younger siblings and children of teachers were welcome to play! In addition to these games, we also had pizza that was FREE for students. A local food truck pulled up and sold snow cones for additional fundraising. A group of our amazing class representatives collected at-will donations from those attending the game as well.
“BBBS has a very impactful program and I was ecstatic to be able to donate and support BBBS.” — Caiden Hinkle – Homecoming for a Cause King 2024
- Traditional: The Homecoming Game: Friday night is the big homecoming game! At halftime, the new king and queen will be crowned by the previous year’s king and queen.
- Twist: We invite the organizations represented by the soon-to-be announced king and queen so they can accept a check from the student representing them. We announce the homecoming royalty from all the grades and then announce our new king and queen. A week’s worth of fundraising efforts is then presented to the two organizations. When reflecting on being crowned, the 2023 Homecoming for a Cause Queen said, “The smile on the woman’s face as I was handing her the check said it all. I had just changed the lives of women I haven’t even met yet. That meant more to me than the crown ever could” and couldn’t believe that “Women I hadn’t even met were grateful for me and my choice to donate to their charity. Even as a high schooler, I was able to change my community for the better.”
“Homecoming for a Cause has helped bring our school and community together with a combined goal to make both a better place.”
Now that our third year of Homecoming for a Cause has come and gone, our students are beginning to see it as part of the other traditions of homecoming. Overall, Homecoming for a Cause has helped bring our school and community together with a combined goal to make both a better place. Students are increasingly eager and honored to be part of the court, and a wider range of students are being honored by their classmates. Throughout the week, students show each other kindness and respect, compliment each other on their spirit wear, and support those who will play, cheer, and walk as members of the Homecoming Court that Friday night.
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