Coming home for a football game after you leave for college has been a tradition for decades – hence the name ‘Homecoming.’

  It then adapted to becoming a time for school spirit, royalty, and football. And this year, there is even a parade for Granite Bay High School’s 20th anniversary.

  The Homecoming events have been going on for weeks with each grade building and working on their class float – modeled from the theme of  television shows from the past twenty years. The freshmen’s float theme is Magic School Bus, the sophomore’s is Looney Toons, the juniors is Scooby Doo and the senior’s is Spongebob.

  “Floats are going good,” said senior class president Brooke Gonzales “We still have a lot of work to do, but it is definitely in the works and is getting there.”

  If one looks closely around the campus during passing period, it is easy to spot the paint that hasn’t come off of the people who have been working on it their floats.

 Also, during the entire designated Homecoming week leading up to the game, there are spirit days set to excite people for the game and following dance.

 “I have a couple different ideas (for the spirit days) up my sleeves,” Gonzales said. “I’ll definitely be going all out because it’s senior year … and also it is so much fun to dress up.”

 At bonfire, which is the night before the Homecoming celebrations, clubs are able to sell a variety of goodies to generate revenue for their causes. While the clubs sell, the school lights fire to Woodcreek High School’s Timberwolf mascot.

  “Be sure to wear your USA gear to the bonfire,” Gonzales said.

  At the rally on the Friday of Homecoming week,  after fourth period, the freshman, sophomore and junior princes and princesses will be unveiled, along with a multitude of games and a few possible surprises from the rally commissioners, Cordon Wade and Matthew Smith.

  “People should expect a fantastic rally with school spirit that is off the charts,” Smith said. “(They should also expect) the cheer and football player routine that is done every year.”

  This rally will have some new special effects, which includes the reveal of the school song.

  “It is going to be awesome, everyone should go,” Smith said.  

  On Homecoming night, the crowd will see the floats, the senior king and queen crowning, the Homecoming game against Woodcreek and the following dance.

  One thing that GBHS does slightly different than other schools is that of having their dance directly following the game and having it be informal. Most schools in the area do a formal dance on the Saturday after, but, in an effort to make the students feel included and not to have the pressure of a couple dance so close to the beginning of the school year, GBHS decided to nix that norm.

  “The dance is going to be black light and we have light up boxes to dance on,” Gonzales said.  

  The tickets for the dance are only three dollars with activities and five without. For the convenience of students, tickets can be purchased at the game right before it is time for the dance or at the door for ten dollars.

  “Most people think that the dance is not fun, so they do not go,” Gonzales said. “But it is actually one of the best (dances of the year).”

  Something new that is going to be done this year is the aforementioned parade on Friday afternoon on Wellington Way right outside the school for the entire community to participate in.

  The parade will be similar to the halftime show, with the cheer, band, extreme dance team and the floats, but additionally, the varsity football team will be walking in the celebration. Because the parade gives the crowd a more interactive view of the players and the students involved in the other activities, it will be a new experience up close.

  The idea for a parade originated from other schools. Because this is a brand new event, those involved hope  everything runs smoothly and it is enjoyed.

 “Hopefully it will become a tradition if enough of the community comes out to watch it and it goes successfully,” said the head parade commissioner, senior Camilla Griggs.

  One of the biggest attractions for homecoming is the crowning of the king and queen. This year, the queen court is made up of  Chisay Arai, Camilla Griggs, Aubrey Holt, Erica Lucia and Elizabeth Sciascia. The king court is made up of Liam Bell, Michael Birch, Daniel Smith, Riley Sullivan and Mark Zagaynov.

  Even though the queen from the class of 2015, Kat McGrail, won’t be able to make it back as per tradition, the school has the special treat of the return of last year’s Homecoming king, Maadhav Shah, to help with crowning.

  Both the king and queen said they felt a great responsibility when they found out that they won because of the large group of people who were looking up to them.

  “Winning was super cool,”said 2015 graduate Kat McGrail. “For me, it meant people looked up to me enough to vote for me to be a representation of Granite Bay as a whole, so that’s cool.”

  While becoming part of the school royalty court does not hold many obligations, both Shah and McGrail said the honor made them want to be a better role model for the under classes.

 The process also allowed for bonding between the courts.

  “All of the queen candidate senior girls last year went to get their nails done together and bonded the night before homecoming,” McGrail said.

   Shah and McGrail said supporting each other is extremely important because they are the new leaders of the school and still classmates.

  “When I was entered, I thought it was a joke by my friends,” Shah said. “I never thought I would even make it to the top five, … (but) when I won, it made me appreciate (of) all the social connections I had made in school.”  

  Homecoming is a great time for classes to bond over the labor of building floats, voting for the royalty and then enjoying the fun at the game.

  “I started high school on the float so it is really cool to end it on the float too,” Gonzales said. “It is definitely one of the best events.”