Whether it’s dress shopping, spirit week, or the pep rally, Homecoming is an event everyone and anyone can look forward to. Nothing beats crazy spirit days, a classic Hoco pep rally, or a rallied-up student section for the Homecoming game the night before the big dance. Homecoming marks the beginning of a new school year where everyone gets a chance to party together and celebrate another year at GHS. With an average of around 800 students in attendance, Homecoming sets the scene for the school year as an event everyone can enjoy. The dance either occurs in September or October and this year, Homecoming takes place on Saturday, September 30.
Every year the dance is coordinated by Student Council and overseen by Mrs. Keplinger. The students on Student Council meet to discuss possible theme ideas and everyone will then vote for their favorite idea. This year, the theme was voted on through a sweet sixteen bracket. Each grade chose two of their best theme ideas to enter into the bracket where they were then voted on by the whole club. They went through voting on theme vs. theme. In the end, Golden Hour was the selected theme the majority of the club agreed upon. Apart from choosing the theme, the members of the Student Council also pick the themes for Homecoming Spirit Week which takes place the week leading up to the dance.
During the week leading up to Homecoming, the student body also takes part in the Homecoming pep rally. At the pep rally, the band, dance team, cheer teams, and more perform and entertain the crowd to get the excitement going for the big Homecoming game the next day. Also at the pep rally, the Homecoming court is presented to the crowd, and the king and queen are often announced as well. This year, the Homecoming pep rally took place on Thursday, September 28 in the GHS main gym.
Friday finally brings the big Homecoming football game. At the game, the Homecoming court is presented out on the field before the start of the game. The student section this year will be decked out in neon to support the bulldogs to victory.
Saturday is the big day. Lots of preparation with hair, nails, makeup, and more. Pictures and dinner are a must for the night and then finally you head to the dance to party hard on the dance floor.
Homecoming excites many students and faculty because it’s an event for everyone. Come with friends, a date, or even yourself because nobody cares when you’re boogying on the dance floor. Dress your best and get ready to party because Homecoming is right around the corner.
WHAT HOCO LOOKED LIKE BEFORE:
The Homecoming experienced today is fairly similar to the Homecoming celebrated in years past, but there are some differences worth noting.
Today it is more common that you will see large groups of friends rather than just dates heading to the dance together. It’s not required to have a date because all you need is your friends to have a good time. This wasn’t the case when Mrs. Matisak went to school at GHS.
“It wasn’t a thing to just go with your friends. You had to have a date or you would not go to the dance,” said Mrs. Matisak, who graduated from GHS in 1986.
Because so many people went with dates, a big part of the decorations at Homecoming were handmade hearts printed with couples’ names. A big part of coming would be to go find you and your date’s name on a heart. The hearts would be located on the walls of the cafeteria in the old high school, the Intermediate School.
“Every dance we would go collect our hearts off the wall because it was a big thing to go find you and your boyfriend’s heart on the wall,” said Mrs. Matisak.
Groups and decorations weren’t the only things different. At the Homecoming dance, there were never long formal dresses but rather church dresses or tea-length dresses. The more formal outfits were saved for Winter Formal and Prom. Also, boys didn’t wear tuxedos but rather casual suits. Not only did they keep it less formal, but the girls also bought silk and satin shoes to dye to match their dresses.
“We would get silk shoes and dye them to match our dresses. You would buy your dress that came with a swatch of fabric connected to the tag so you could leave the fabric with the shoe store where they would dye them to match your dress,” said Mrs. Garritano, who graduated from GHS in 1991.
The Homecoming court was roughly the same except the king and queen were announced at the Homecoming game during halftime. The members of the court were already known so only the king and queen would be announced. The nominated girl from each grade would ride in convertible corvettes around the track before they would walk onto the field. There, they announced the Homecoming king and queen who were crowned by last year’s recipients.
“All of it happened at the football game. It was a big event for all the students,” said Mrs. Garritano.
From all the Homecoming proposals seen today, it was not common to have a grand gesture when it came to asking someone to Homecoming. When you asked someone to be your date, it was in private. There was no pressure to say yes or a big display.
Homecoming stays the same though in concept as it’s a time to celebrate the beginning of the school year.

WHAT’S UP WITH THE SHORT DRESSES?
It’s obvious to note that Green High School is not like other schools when it comes to Homecoming dress attire. It’s common to see other schools wearing shorter dresses, but here at Green, we go all out with long formal fits. Believe it or not, long dresses have always been the trend at GHS.
Schools like Jackson, Lake, and even Glenoak High Schools all wear short dresses to Homecoming. These dances can be considered semi-formal in which the attire does not require long, fancy dresses. At Green, we standardize a more formal tone in which we dress to impress.
At these other schools though, when it comes time for Winter Formal, long dresses are the trend compared to Green where we go short and casual. Homecoming wasn’t as formal as it is now, which is why girls would wear church-like dresses or tea-length dresses, but at Winter Formal and Prom, that’s where you looked your best in your formal attire.
Long dresses are the trend at Green which makes us unique compared to the other high schools around the area.