Homecoming memories

MVHS staff share a glimpse into their homecoming experiences

Amberly Sun and Jami Lim • September 27, 2024

English teacher Rachel Cassar poses with her friends while dressed in a Boy Scouts uniform for a Homecoming dress-up spirit day. Photo courtesy of Rachel Cassar | Used with permission

Ashley Voigt

Voigt and her high school sweetheart embrace for a photo during a homecoming role-swap game where Voigt participated in football while her boyfriend cheered from the sidelines. Photo courtesy of Ashley Voigt | Used with permission

For MVHS guidance counselor and Class of ‘09 alum Ashley Voigt, some of her most palpable memories from high school are centered around Homecoming, especially the Homecoming dance. Voigt says during her time in high school, attending the dance with a date was more common than not. This led to the unfolding of a relationship with her then high school boyfriend — now husband.

“I married my high school sweetheart,” Voigt said. “And the first time I ever realized we were more than friends was when he asked me to Homecoming sophomore year, so Homecoming is special to me.”

As a freshman, Voigt recalls being enthralled by the decorated events and high spirit of Homecoming. While class skits were not yet a part of Homecoming, Voigt says the week was abundant in festivities and traditions, including elaborate Homecoming floats created by each class to parade with during the football game and a role-swap football game where girls played a flag football game against one another. The football team would coach the teams and cheer on the sidelines during the game using cheers they learned from the cheerleaders. Voigt says she particularly has fond memories of the rallies, where spirit and camaraderie were highest.

“When I go to the rallies now it just really brings me back,” Voigt said. “Maybe my class just really got into rallies but back then it was like, ‘You're going to the rally and you're going to show as much spirit as you can.’ When I think back to high school, I would say rallies were definitely something that I personally loved and really helped me feel connected to not just MVHS, but the Class of 2009 and our advisors.”

When Voigt now attends or chaperones Homecoming events at MVHS, she notices a decline in participation, specifically for the rallies. She says it may be potentially due to students opting out to focus on academics or simply declining enrollment. However, regardless of turnout, Voigt feels Homecoming provides a space for students to let loose from the typical academic environment.

“The purpose of it, the community building, the activities and getting to root for your class is still there, and that’s the most important part of it,” Voigt said. “What I think of during the rallies is I hope that these are memorable events for current students and that they just feel that spirit. I think that it's really important, outside of all the academics and everything else at MVHS, to just have that no-pressure fun. These are memorable events during high school that are not about the academics that you can really hold on to later in life.”

Rachel Cassar

Cassar and her friends laugh side-by-side under the bleachers while decked out in school colors for homecoming festivities. Photo courtesy of Rachel Cassar | Used with permission

When English teacher Rachel Cassar attended a private Christian School, she says students seized the events of Homecoming to let loose from the typical structured and sheltered routine of the private school. As Cassar was homeschooled prior to high school, Homecoming served as an introduction to high school culture for her. As her Homecoming experience is relatively recent — being a Class of 2019 graduate — Cassar looks forward to participating in dress-up days during MVHS’ homecoming week and reminiscing about her experience.

“Coming into high school, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I'm a high schooler. This is the real deal,’” Cassar said. “I hadn’t been to school dances or football games, so I was really excited. I remember we were hearing about Homecoming for a couple of weeks and people were like, ‘You have got to get dressed up.’ People really got dressed up for the Homecoming football game and everyone was there.”

Since uniforms were the daily attire, Cassar says she and her classmates were particularly excited to deviate from the monotonous attire and dress up for Homecoming festivities. Being involved in performing arts as a student, Cassar was particularly committed to dressing up for spirit days.

“It was a very welcome break from khaki and maroon,” Cassar said. “It was a way to just wear the clothes that you wanted — some people just wore jeans and a T-shirt. It was really nice to see people outside the structured and monitored school environment. It was really fun to dance with people and chat casually and not be about school at all.”

Cassar’s excitement for Homecoming was shared amongst her classmates as the attendance for the Homecoming game, rallies and dance turned out extremely high, often not having enough space to accommodate all the students. However, the Homecoming dance wasn’t a typical experience, as Cassar recalls efforts made by the school to maintain a sheltered environment. Curse words were redacted from music, leaving comical pauses, and many chaperones were present to maintain an “appropriate” environment. Afterparties were also deliberately held by parents to ensure students weren’t drinking and were under supervision.

“It had very iconic Christian school vibes,” Cassar said. “One of the DJs would just turn off the song entirely for three or four seconds every time there was like a curse word so we'd all just stand there dead quiet. The experience was a little more unique due to it being a Christian school because they were trying to keep the students contained.”

Clay Stiver

Stiver escorts then senior Kelly Tung for the 2022 Homecoming Court. (Krish Dev)

MVHS school counselor and CHS ‘04 alum Clay Stiver made sure to attend every Homecoming football game. Despite not being on the team, his passion for the sport and friendship with the football players drove him to always show up.

“The game always seemed to be the most fun, the most packed,” Stiver said. “The team really wanted to win, and were very competitive. I enjoyed the other parts of Homecoming, the rallies, and activities, but I mainly enjoyed the sports and the football game.”

In his senior year, Stiver stepped out of his comfort zone and actively participated in other aspects of Homecoming by dressing up during Spirit Week and dancing in front of the school during his class skit. Despite his lack of interest and skills, Stiver recounts how proud he was of himself after learning the choreography for the skit.

“It was my senior year, my last homecoming,” Stiver said, “I was like, ‘I’ll put myself out there. Give it a try.’ I had friends doing it, so that really got me into it. It made me wish that I had done more my freshman, sophomore and junior year.”

Stiver retains his love for Homecoming by being an escort for Homecoming court, judging skits, working the scoreboard at football games and being a class advisor. He says he enjoys watching students at rallies or the football game sharing their school spirit. However, he has noticed a decline in Homecoming attendance since he joined MVHS as a guidance counselor in 2009.

“I just wish more people would attend the football game,” Stiver said. “I feel the spirit, but a lot of people aren’t out there watching the skits like they would in the past.”

About the Contributors

Amberly Sun, Head of Graphics

Amberly is a junior and Head of Graphics for El Estoque. She enjoys art and music.

Jami Lim, Editor-in-Chief

Jami is currently a senior and Editor-in-Chief for El Estoque. In her free time, she loves to rewatch her favorite movies, take photos of her friends, and attempt to keep up with her thousands of hobbies.