For most South students, homecoming week means going to a few school-sponsored events and dressing up for themed days of the week. For a small percentage of South teachers, it means months of organizing and preparing to make everything run smoothly for one week out of thirty eight.

“Teachers start preparing in April or May of the previous year, so it’s for several months that we’re planning,” said Shanna Gardner, English teacher. Gardner is the assistant to science teacher Samantha Scanlan, the head of student council. According to Gardner, planning for homecoming is more difficult and time-consuming than planning for a wedding because a wedding is only one day, while homecoming is an entire week.

“Once we decide a theme, we are always looking for stuff, whether it’s from the dollar store or stalking Pinterest. We spend a lot of time in the summer at least gathering ideas, researching, and trying to find stuff on sale,” said Hannah Christie, the junior class sponsor. According to Christie, preparation is a constant task once student council starts.

Students on the council get together with their class sponsors to plan events such as hallway decorating and coordinated dress-up days.

During homecoming week, student council spends extra time during and after school to set-up for events; however, teachers barely leave the school.

“During the actual week, I get to school around 6 a.m. and most nights, especially Mr. Cougar night and hallway decorating night, we don’t leave here until ten, so it’s pretty crazy,” Christie said. Gardner agrees with Christie and said teachers spend at least sixty hours at school during homecoming week. Regardless, Gardener and Christie love seeing kids excited for school and these events.

“I think it gives students a sense of purpose and a connection to their school, and the friendly competition is great,” Christie said. According to Christie, she believes the work student council does in preparation for homecoming brings students of different grade levels together as a collective group.

According to the sponsors, students enjoy the competition that comes with participating in class olympics and the hallway decorating competition and it may be the reason most teachers participate in student council.

“The end result, seeing students enjoying all of these activities, makes [the work], worth it,” Gardener said.

The class sponsors this year include Shannon McNulty, Veray Mackley, Samantha Scanlan, Hannah Christie, Mike Shubert, and John Miller.