By Steve Robinson | September 29, 2013 - 10:08 pm
Posted in Category: The Normalite

Steve RobinsonPrior to the start of the new school year, Normal’s Unit 5 School District officials announced the format for how the district’s two high schools would celebrate their respective homecomings would change.

But in order to understand the changes that were made, one must remember how it used to be done: Unit 5 schools would be dismissed in the early afternoon in time for kids to make it to a parade that would start, usually around 2:30 or so. That would be followed by the evening’s big event – the homecoming football game. I have no doubt that, when I was in high school, at a time when Normal only had one high school, this was a simple process to deal with.

When Normal Community West High came into being in the mid-1990s, the district adjusted to doing this routine twice a year. It is my understanding that, even back then, the neighbors living around the schools were troubled by traffic issues that surrounded getting into or out of their neighborhoods in the late afternoon as a result of the parade format.

Most importantly, the changes put into effect as of this year were made to alleviate disruptions to students’ learning time in the classroom caused by the early dismissal, which in turn, led to disruptions in how the district’s tiered bus service got kids home from their day.

“When we had parades on Friday so that everyone could get prepared for the game, it was very difficult for the children and their families that wanted to participate to get released to do so,” explained Dr. Sandy Wilson, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the district.

What Unit 5 chose to do to replace the long-standing same-day parades was allow the high schools to create their own alternative celebration plans for the big event. And from hearing about what those plans were once they were rolled out, they turned out to be as different as a Wildcat is from a huddle of Ironmen.

Normal West gets to step forward and show off their new tradition first this weekend. By the time you read this, it will have already begun, as the Wildcats faithful will have had their parade and annual “Powder Puff” football game on Wednesday, Oct. 2. The Wildcats will play Urbana at Wildcat Field Friday at 7p.m.

Two West seniors, Casey Spence and Shelby McBurney, are not just Cheer Squad members, but also are on the school’s homecoming committee that developed the new format for the celebration. “Our committee thought Wednesday was probably just the easiest day to do the parade,” explained Spence. McBurney added combining the parade and the Powder Puff event on the same night would make for what she called a “larger start” to the homecoming festivities.

At Normal Community High School, where homecoming will be celebrated Oct. 18, a “Red Wagon Parade” will take place around the track at Ironmen Field at halftime of the game between NCHS and Decatur Eisenhower. Before the game, there will be a family-oriented tailgate event held just outside the stadium’s front gate. Adam Woodside and Melissa Guevara, both NCHS seniors, are on the Planning Committee for the event.

Woodside said he thinks “the tailgate is going to be much better than the parade, just because of how involved we can get the local community.”

“We’ll get them to get out and play games and really have a good time with the students and interact with the students,” Woodside explained.

At the tailgate, students representing the 80 clubs within Normal West will be running booths at the tailgate. He said students from all four class years will be involved with the activity.

Guevara admits she has talked to people at school “who are disappointed” about the parade in its traditional form not being held as it had for so many years. But, she said, there are also many people “who are extremely excited about having the new tailgate before the game.”

“I’ve been hearing from people the tailgate is going to be a much better option and it’s going to be awesome, and even bigger than what the parade was,” Guevara added. She said she has heard from fellow students and community members alike that having an event that brings fans out beforehand has been a well-received notion.

Guevara said she believes “we’re dealing with the change in an awesome way, and I think it’ll be even better than what the parade was last year.”

“Is the change a little bit of a shock? Yes,” Woodside asks and answers rhetorically, but it quick to add, “But just because something’s new and is a shock doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a bad thing.”

“There have been several venues for communication about Homecoming plans, including class sponsor meetings at NCHS, Iron Pride PTO meetings, the Alumni Association, and our Principal’s Advisory Committee made up of almost 70 students representative of all groups in the building,” explained David Bollman, principal of NCHS to me in an email. I was not able to get in contact with Normal West administrators, but one can pretty much believe the same concerned groups were contacted by administrators there, too, for input.

“None of those groups has expressed any concern about the lack of a Homecoming Parade,” Bollman continued. “They have understood the rational regarding the change in the school calendar that no longer allowed us to support a parade in the traditional format at Normal Community, and have been supportive of the new activity of tailgating with activities and a limited parade at halftime.”

It is also a pretty safe bet the various groups of students and parents there also pitched in ideas and suggestions and lent input leading to West’s finished product.

“Both schools have come up with a new tradition,” Wilson said. “This situation has allowed each school to come up with a plan, and they came up with two different plans.” Wilson reminded that while parents and teachers provided input on what they thought might work, it was the students who put the plans into motion.

“This is still involving the community,” Wilson said. “It’s a win-win for the schools and the community.”

Sometimes, such changes don’t always come or get accepted very easily. But in this case, no one is losing out, but rather, they are preparing for the beginning of a new tradition. Considering the way it developed, it sounds like a winning circumstance all around.

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