Light blue balloons, a DJ playing heart-thumping beats, blue LED lights over the ceiling and banners strewn everywhere in the Cafe Commons. Students wearing dresses and suits dancing to the music.
This Homecoming presented East’s new color of light blue, with a Wildcat Fever theme and the Cafe Commons donning light blue decorations.
East’s first Homecoming under Principal Jesse Casey kicked off Oct. 21 with the football team’s first victory since 2019, beating Chatham Central 43-28. The homecoming dance followed the next night. Originally, homecoming was scheduled for Oct. 1, but was postponed three weeks due to Hurricane Ian.
Homecoming was a special day for many students, but more importantly it’s special for Principal Casey, it’s one step closer to bringing the school spirit back to East.
“I [want] to bring more connection to East… the students, staff, [everybody],” Casey said. “I want you all to be proud of being at East, say, ‘This is where I go,’ and wear your [East] gear proudly when you are out in the community.”
Getting Homecoming celebrations off the ground had unexpected challenges, especially since the last homecoming dance occurred in 2019.
“It hadn’t happened in a while, so [we felt like] we had to start from scratch,” Casey said.
For juniors and underclassmen, this year was their first opportunity to attend a high school dance.
“In general, we have not had many organized, structured school events,” student body president Julianne Reynolds said.
Yet, there are still a lot of challenges in order to improve East spirit, according to CTE teacher Karen Sanders.
“This is year 25 for me and [East has] never been big in school spirit,” Sanders said.
However, East graduate and P.E. teacher Brian Koltz said he felt Homecoming used to be a bigger event.
“[After] I graduated, a lot of my friends would make sure we went to Homecoming and at least saw the teachers that we knew,” Koltz said. “I feel like a lot more people came back then than we have now in the five years I’ve been here.”
Sanders fondly remembers the Homecomings at East in the early 2000s, as her son was a member of the Class of 2001.
“It was very exciting. We always had something going on. We had a dance team. We had the Homecoming court. We had cars that were donated by local car dealerships for us to drive and they were all convertibles,” Sanders said. “Many times we had students over at our house, painting themselves up in the backyard. It was a lot of fun.”
While there is no guarantee of having convertibles at next year’s homecoming, Casey hopes they can rejuvenate pride among East students.
That passion is paying off according to Reynolds.
“I feel like he is so much more connected with the students,” Reynolds said. “He is really making an effort to connect with students [more] than past administrators.”
“I want [students] to [remember] East as a great school and want to come back, support and provide to the students who are here,” Casey said.
Photos by Avery Tortora/The ECHO
