Behind the scenes of RHS’s very first school-wide homecoming.
By Natalie Kim and Danielle Cho
Students decorated the halls to represent Maroon spirit all week! (Photo by Ridgewood High School Student Congress)
The first Homecoming dance made it into the 2024-2025 school year! This event was held on October 29th, from 7:30 pm to 9:30pm, closing out a week of spirit and fun. And regardless of the apprehension at having some 800 students together for a dance and night of fun, the evening turned out to be a perfect one. It was a great way to cap off Homecoming week.
Students looked forward to Homecoming Week because of the dance that would close out the week. It was the newest addition to the dances held here at Ridgewood High School. Many seniors, including Olivia Fitzgerald, were excited for the dance although she wishes it had been held during the years prior so she could have had a dance in every grade; nevertheless she is glad that RHS was having one. For the week of homecoming, she was “really excited for…doing all of the exciting senior stuff from the car decorating and the hallways and all that stuff.”
Homecoming spirit week started with a hallway decorating competition on Sunday, October 20th. Hallways were decorated with different themes for each grade: Freshman Fairytale, Sophomore Space, Junior Jungle, and Seniors Sea. The seniors and juniors did the best job with the elaborate decorations. Not many students came to decorate the hallways, but the students that did come made the most of it; liveliness was definitely present on that Sunday afternoon. For each grade, there were colorful streamers, fun stickers, do it yourself creations, and wallpapers brightening the hallway. Overall, the walls at RHS were looking exuberant with evident student participation.
Thereafter, each day of homecoming week had its own theme: Pajama Monday, Jersey vs. Jersey Shore Tuesday, Pink Out Wednesday (honoring Breast Cancer Awareness), Twin Thursday, and Black Out Friday.
Friday had other events in store as well, such as the sunrise breakfast, the senior car decorating contest, and a pep rally to celebrate the fall sport season, which was all followed by Friday night’s football game.
This dance was supported by the student government and athletics department who put the event together. The theme was maroon pride; the balloons and decorations were maroon colored but students did not have to dress in this theme. Semi-formal attire was encouraged, meaning suits, sport jackets, and cocktail dresses, and their chic outfits looked great under the shining lights and maroon decorations.
Because this Homecoming was the first RHS hosted in years, the excitement could be felt through the halls everyday leading up to that very night. And in the end, it set the stage for the years to come.