Homecoming weekend is a day away, and it will begin not on the field or on the dance floor but in the parking lot in front of NASH.
This Friday afternoon in front of a bustling crowd, 22 teams and clubs will parade around the perimeter of the building to kick off a weekend of festivities.
“The planning process for the parade takes a lot of effort that goes unseen,” said Student Council President Dean Cammarata. “Three to four StuCo juniors have to book local food trucks, choose a theme, and coordinate floats.”
Regarding this year’s theme, “Night at the Movies,” planning began well before the start of the school year.
“Coming up with a parade theme is difficult because you need one where every group can come up with a float that is different, but still fits into the theme. We started brainstorming over the summer and decided on ‘Night at the Movies,’ which give groups a lot of flexibility,” said Student Council sponsor Mr. Karolski.
Once a theme is picked, the next step is coordinating the participants.
“It can be challenging getting information out to all the groups,” Karolski added,” but many of the logistics are utilized from previous years, so it’s nice to repeat what works.”
“Night at the Movies” will challenge participants to create floats that match a movie of their choosing.
“For our movie, seniors picked Minions, and the juniors and sophomores design our float to go along with the theme,” Gianna Fuerst, a senior on the Cheerleading squad, said. “It’s also fun to do something with the whole team. There’s always a winner for the best float, and we’ve won the past few years, so hopefully we can win again.”
Student Council has also arranged for the following food trucks to set up shop at NASH Friday afternoon: Mission Mahi, Aviva, Hummus Pittsburgh, Kona Ice, and Millie’s.
But even with all of the pieces in place, StuCo still has work to do leading up to the start of the parade.
“The day of, we use Remind and have a group of students who are trained to help answer questions in the back of the building for all of the groups,” Karolski explained.
Once the parade is finished, planning for the new year begins.
“The day after the parade, I send out a survey looking for areas of improvement, and then we review that information over the summer to make sure that next year is better than the last,” Karolski shared.
So there you have it, NASH. Join in on Friday, October 3rd, beginning with food trucks at 4:45pm. The parade is set to commence at 5:30pm.
