Fall is a fun time for many students. Returning to school, seeing friends after a long summer, and homecoming week are events that many students look forward to. Fall is also a time for tradition, and Plainfield South has an assortment.
“[I enjoy] football games. I just love going out and seeing my friends and enjoy being involved,” said Kara Smith, senior.
One of the first traditions of the school year involves Blue and White night: an event to celebrate school spirit including sport scrimmages and performances from dance, poms, cheer and band. All fall sports are acknowledged by an announcement on the field.
“It’s something we talk about. It’s promoted to everybody, and we tell them to come out. One thing we’re working on hard here is to go support everyone else as well,” said Jacob Brosman, varsity football coach.
A fairly new tradition, started by student Delaney O’Sullivan in 2021, is Senior Sunrise, where seniors gather by the flagpole before school, and enjoy music, treats while they watch the sunrise. The event is led by Samantha Scanlan, Student Council sponsor and science teacher.
A specific tradition held by the band is the Band Boosters car wash. The event involves a free car wash at 3 different locations. One at Plainfield South, one at Ace Hardware on Rt 59 and one at Jewel Osco on Rt 59. The band also accepts tips to raise money for their Booster program.
The football team enjoys dinners every Thursday night before the games. Parents volunteer to host the team at their house.
“They come together, have dinner. It’s fun, they have a good time,” said Brosman.
Staff members also have their traditions, including a family BBQ at the first home football game of the year. The athletic department invites staff and their families to watch the game in the end zone. There is food provided that the staff can enjoy while watching the event with their families.
Personal traditions are also celebrated among staff.
“For my entire coaching career, every Saturday I get on the phone with my dad and we discuss my game and we discuss what we saw,” said Brosman.
The fall play is also traditionally held in October or November. Led by Sue Kamrowski, the cast and crew work vigorously to practice before the big performance. This year’s play fits the fall theme of Frankenstein and Nathan Gornick, senior, will be playing the main role of Victor Frankenstein.
Homecoming Week is one of the many traditions at Plainfield South. This year it was held on Sep. 18 through Sep. 23. The week traditionally ends with the Homecoming dance after an eventful week of activities.
“I participate in all homecoming week activities. Speedaway, Class Olympics, Football games,” said Smith.
This year was a jam packed week of school spirit events for all to enjoy. The seniors voted on their own, but a fairly new tradition is Senior Citizen day. Seniors dress up as senior citizens as a play on them being the oldest in the school.
Other traditions are Class Color day, and Cougar Pride with a Senior White out on Friday. An uprising tradition is Anything but a Backpack day, where students have gotten very creative with their new backpacks. The first event of the week is Speedaway, also known as Powderpuff. This is a game of flag football and soccer combined against the junior girls and senior girls. This year, the Senior girls won 8-1.
“This was my first year doing Speedaway. It was super fun, I loved it. We lost, but it’s okay. It was really fun because of the teamwork,” said Mashi Kumar, Junior.
Wednesday has two events. The first is the Senior BBQ at 4 p.m. The second is the Class Olympics at 6 p.m. Everyone separates into teams by grade level, and then compete in minute to win-it games. The Student Council will also be holding a canned food drive to add points to your team at the end of the night. This year the seniors won, by 37 points.
Friday, there’s a pep assembly during 7th hour in the football stadium featuring performances from Poms, Cheer, Band and more. This is the only time during the whole school year that all of Souths students get together in one place and celebrate the spirit of what it is to be a Cougar.
This year, the pep assembly was held in the auditorium with seniors only because of the weather. The band did a hallway walk with the homecoming court, and students stood out and cheered.
There are many fall traditions that staff and students enjoy.