While colors of autumn begin to decorate the campus in vibrant hues of orange and brown, the students of Evanston Township High School prepare to celebrate homecoming. For ETHS, homecoming week is dedicated to fun, school pride, and a bit of dancing. No matter who they may be, the feeling of anticipation is never lost on those who walk through the halls.
“It feels like everything is coming to an end,” said Olivia Ohlson, a senior in the class of 2025, about her final homecoming. “It’s really crazy right now. It’s overwhelming trying to figure out what I want to do and where I want to go.”
Despite feeling anxious, Olivia is determined to enjoy this week.
“I’m going to the pep rally with my friends… It makes me happy when I look up into the stands and see everyone wearing the school colors. You can tell how excited everyone is- especially during the football game.”
While homecoming for seniors represents the end of their four-year journey, it’s an entirely different and exciting experience for freshmen like Lara Lazaro.
“This is my first time going to a dance, but I’m happy I’m going with friends-they’re really excited. So am I,” she said.
For freshmen, homecoming is a time to enjoy school outside of class and make memories with friends while navigating this week for the first time. Asking an upperclassman or a sibling for advice regarding homecoming was a go-to for a few freshmen. In fact, Lazaro asked her older brother about his first homecoming before the week started.
“He told me I should be safe and stay close to my friends,” she stated. “He told me that I should have fun and that going to homecoming with friends is best.”
Hunter Simmons, another freshman, expressed what questions he would ask seniors about homecoming. “I would ask them how their first homecoming went. What did they do? What did they wear during spirit week? What are they doing after the dance?”
Though these questions were present in the minds of many freshmen like Simmons, that uncertainty didn’t prevent them from having a great time at the disco-themed dance. According to freshman Helen Willbanks, her favorite part of homecoming was the mood.
“The best part for me was the atmosphere,” Willbanks stated. “It also really depends on the people you come with,” she explained.
This does not seem to be an uncommon opinion either– a Loyola Academy student who attended the dance said that being with friends was the highlight of homecoming.
However, Willbanks and the Loyola student agreed that though nothing was truly wrong, they would like to fix a spacing issue.
“Maybe things should be more spread out since there’s a lot of people,” noted the Loyola pupil.
In fact, this opinion wasn’t exclusive to freshmen. Evan Fouts, a senior who did not attend the disco, explained that perhaps “lower ticket prices and more snacks and drinks” would incentivize him to go. While Fouts did not make an appearance at this year’s homecoming, he did attend his sophomore year.
“When I went sophomore year, I was underwhelmed and thought it wasn’t worth the price to go again to something I didn’t find super fun,” he recalled.
Some, however, take the opposite approach.
“I’ll definitely be going next year,” Willbanks added, “especially if my friends are.”
One sophomore who did not attend mentioned that his apathy towards going was less based on his disappointment in the decor and activities and more on who he chose to spend the evening with. Rather than going to the dance, he decided to stay in and watch a movie– creating his own version of a fun night. However, he still encourages freshmen to be present. A great deal of non-freshmen feel this way–one sophomore, Nala Taherzadeh-Malmiri, said “When you go to homecoming, you get to say hello to so many people that you wouldn’t usually [talk to].”
Though parts of the dance (the music, lights, and crowd) might have been in- tense at times, there were other activities that were more dispersed and away from the large groups of people. For example, there was a multitude of photo ops– with many disco themed props, a caricature booth, and face painting. There were also 2 gyms filled with snacks to recharge, and plenty of drinks. It was mentioned several times how amazing the availability of water was. Many took advantage of the opportunities there– painting their faces to match the outfits they were wearing and the 70s theme.
Aside from the homecoming game, the dance, and spirit week, a few people just spent the week of homecoming with friends. For senior Zachary Cutter, homecoming week is special because he can spend more time with his friends. “I want to make this week memorable because it holds a lot more weight than the last few years. I don’t usually go to homecoming games, but I want to spend as much time as possible with my friends before the year is over.” Zach expressed that he wanted this homecoming to be more memorable than the last few, and so he made the most of every moment with his friends during this special week.
As the week ends and the decorations are put away, homecoming at ETHS remains a cherished tradition, uniting students across all grades to celebrate school spirit and friendship. Whether it’s the excitement of attending the dance for the first time, the thrill of cheering at the football game or simply enjoying festivities with friends, each student finds a way to mark this special week. For some, it’s the beginning of many homecoming weeks, and for others, it’s a final farewell. But for everyone, it’s a week that brings the ETHS community together– where memories are made, and school pride is clearer than ever.
