The morning of Sept. 29 started off foggy and cold. Despite the dreary circumstances, students made their way into the school, greeted by the band playing instruments, along with the dance team’s smiles and shaking poms.
While most students attended their shortened classes, Pep Club (a club exclusively for seniors) started setting up and running through the schedule of the day.
“Everyone’s really engaged, everyone’s helping out. I really like it compared to last year, I feel like we’re really motivated,” senior Nathalia Hernandez said.
Leader of Pep Club, and WEGO alumni Elizabeth Mastroianni hyped up the Peppers (the nickname she gave her members) for a quick Instagram video to showcase the amount of pep in everyone’s step going into the Homecoming festivities.
As the final bell rang and students trickled into the stadium, the cheer team pulled off some stunts to start off the Homecoming excitement before games officially began. Junior Andrea Garcia fell through the air with her arms out as her teammates caught her – this was one of several new stunts the team tried out this year.
Games were arranged so that the classes could be pitted up against each other. Senior Payton Arredondo participated in the dodge ball water balloon challenge. Arredondo threw water balloons she grabbed from the buckets, even rolling on the turf to avoid getting struck with a balloon. While surrounding seniors dodged and awaited the right moment to strike at the opposing class. Juniors eventually pulled through with the win as Robert Witek launched the final blow at Arredondo.
Dance Team members and sophomores Alyson Dusing and Rylee Finstrom grooved to their routine for the assembly.
Another popular activity returned this year: the slip ‘n slide. Seniors Jack Walsh, Carlos Allen, and Krystian Roldan – all Pep Club members – slid together on the water slide. Soaked as water dripped from their “Get Peppy” t-shirts, the three raced across the field, demonstrating the obstacle course’s run. Almost all Pep Club members matched, wearing their shirts and even putting on some blue paint in a display of school spirit.
“You’re getting to be a part of a community that you didn’t really think was in this school. And I love how it’s like only for seniors, so you make more friends than you already do in your class,” senior Jake Sweeney, a Pep Club member, said.
Word on the field was that last year’s tug-of-war was rigged on the student side due to the larger number of students in comparison to teachers. As a rematch this year, students were again paired with the teachers, but the numbers were split evenly – however, the strength of the staff was unmatched, particularly with so many gym teachers. The students did not pull out a win this year, and some questions whether it was truly an equitable contest.
“It was nice to see the tug-of-war between the teachers and the students again. Honestly, I don’t think it was fair,” junior Ela Marszalek said.
The win left many gym teachers high-fiving one and other, while some, like Matthew Zuffante, stuck out “Ls” for “losers” with his fingers, taking pride in their victory.
Homecoming Court then made their way onto the field as the crowns were shown off and waved over every court member’s head before falling upon Karen Huerta Garnica and Qssam Alwan, both seniors who have been dating for some time.
Considering the fact that WEGO offered a shortened schedule on Sept. 29, there was no lunch hour within the day, so many students were drawn to Food Fest to satisfy their appetite. Juniors Alex Rocha and Stephanie Miguel enjoyed the options, such as the pulled pork sandwich and pizza. Plenty of clubs sold items including, but not limited to, sodas, beverages, Kona Ice, cookies, and pickles on a stick.
“I got a pulled pork sandwich from Fan and cookies from Global. I’d honestly both rate them a ten out of ten,” junior Alex Rocha said.
The parade commenced shortly after Food Fest, and many clubs and teams either walked or caught a ride on a car that cruised through the streets of West Chicago. Children from the surrounding neighborhoods, as well as Gary Elementary School and Leman Middle School, awaited candy that was thrown out toward the curbs by those participating within the parade.
After the parade, senior Jamie Sticha and junior Arson Gutierrez posed for a quick side-by-side as they prepared to compete against each other in the powderpuff football game: a football game in which the girls get the opportunity to pass the ball, while boys get the chance to cheer for the girls.
Always a hotly debated decision, this year’s seniors wore hot pink, while juniors donned lime green. Both the colors and design were put together by Pep Club.
Senior Kali Waller brought home several touchdowns for the senior team in what ended up being an epic game; according to Pep Club leader Mitch McKenna, Waller broke the record for the most touchdowns in a single powderpuff game.
“To participate in powderpuff is a great experience. You get to spend time with your friends and just have fun. Our coaches helped us a lot. We had a similar team to our Jr. year team so a lot of us were able to remember the calls we would use for each play,” Waller said.
Senior Carly Clemens also scored during the powderpuff game, helping the senior team defeat the juniors by a lead of 49 points. The final score was 105-56.
Pom Boys, who cheered throughout the game, threw up their pom poms as they celebrated the performance they had practiced and choreographed together with the direction of the Dance Team in the week leading up to Homecoming. Honoring the theme this year, “Under the Sea”, the Pom Boys dressed in beach attire.
“The experience was so good, it was one the most fun activities I have been a part of here at WEGO. It was a bit embarrassing but since there were so many of us it just became so fun and exciting. I think dance taught us to just do whatever we wanted without fear of judgement from others. I think that everyone, including me, had such a great time, and I wish I would have done it last year as well!” said senior and pom boy, Graham Johnson.
With the memorable event of former English teacher Kyle Etheridge’s performance among the Pom Boys last year, this year, the group had similar concepts planned. Although initially chanting things such as “Johnny Chisholm” they were quickly informed that John Chisholm was inside and could not accompany them. The Pom Boys followed this news with upset groans, and then began to chant for Zuffante; however, they were still out of luck, as he denied the request.
Finally, Pom Boys took the matter into their own hands and decided to scout out a teacher, which eventually led Social Studies teacher Jaime Garcia to cave, and go along with the Pom Boys’ shenanigans. As they all approached, looking like a large herd, out of nowhere, Chisholm emerged, having been concealed in their group. He had been asked by a number of students to dance with the Pom Boys to which he responded that he “wasn’t Mr. Etheridge” before deciding to participate. Both teachers put on hats and raised their poms high before having a ‘dance off’ on the field.
“I went out there and the Pom Boys were kinda like stalking and lurking for any teachers they could find. Zuffante ran away, Zeman ran away, so I walked up there and thankfully Jennings didn’t see me to call me out because Jennings is like the ringleader of all of this. And I saw Mr. Garcia had said yes so he was dancing with a pirate hat, and I’m like well if Garcia can do it, I can do it too,” Chisholm said.
The festivities ended, and with a final cheer, the powderpuff girls and Pom Boys left the field and the school, hoping to regroup before the evening’s football game.
“Back when I was in high school, we didn’t do Homecoming. Like we had the football game Saturday and a dance Saturday night, but there were no parades or door decorating. There was none of that. So, it’s really nice to be in a school that does that. Kids get excited you know, and you could feel it building throughout the week. As a teacher trying to teach, the kids were a little bit off topic. But they enjoyed it. It was fun, I think it was well done,” Chisholm said.
