Homecoming week is in full stride, and there’s a certain magic in the air concerning the dance. The real magic going on, though, is the student council members who are making this dream become a reality.

Junior Sophie Stone talks about her role as a part of the royalty committee for homecoming. 

“The advisors, like Mrs. Bishop, will count the votes,” Stone said. “We pass out letters to candidates when they get nominated and we help them with practice sessions and where they need to go.”

Another student council member, senior Cindy Ndegwa, talks about how her committee orchestrated the homecoming dance.

“There’s about six members on the homecoming committee, so each person had to come up with a theme to make a PowerPoint,” Ndegwa said. “Altogether we each voted on which PowerPoint they wanted.”

Ndegwa also points out how staff members are helping with the creation of the dance.

“We had to meet with Mr. Umphrey a lot of times,” Ndegwa said. “He’s the one that controls all the music, the DJ, the ticket sales. If it wasn’t for him, honestly, I don’t know how we would have planned it.”

Teacher Nicole Bishop is a Student Council advisor and oversees the homecoming committees.

“During homecoming prep, it’s like a fulltime job,” Bishop said.  “Trying to fit in homecoming stuff in every free moment.” 

Along with preparing for the dance, advisors like Bishop are always looking for improvements to make for next year. 

“I think everybody’s pretty flexible and keep running with things.” “We’re always making notes on what to fix next year,” Bishop said. 

Student Council has a tough job preparing for the dance and needs some extra help from staff with creating a magical time for the students.

“We’re kind of there to be a liaison between the students and the admin, or get building requests, or buy stuff for the students,” Bishop said. “But really it’s the Student Council leaders who run the committees and come up with ideas and do a lot of the work to make things happen.”

Homecoming spirit week has been a tradition here since West opened its doors, but as Bishop reflects on her high school homecoming experience, she thinks back on the school spirit shown for the dance.

“I think there’s a lot more school spirit, at least what I remember,” Bishop said. “I haven’t seen any balloon arches, which is good.” “Throughout the week, I don’t really remember a homecoming week. So this is definitely different, and I think it’s a positive change.”