Homecoming season takes over Lenawee County schools with spirit days, parades and football

LENAWEE COUNTY — For many Lenawee County schools, fall homecoming celebrations have taken place throughout September, and a few continue into October.

Homecoming celebrations have become synonymous with spirit week themes, pep rallies, parades and of course Friday night football games complete with a homecoming court, class floats and the crowning of a homecoming queen and king. Homecoming events are traditionally held to welcome back alumni and to celebrate the school’s existence and history.

If you’re curious about the details of homecoming festivities throughout the county’s schools, look no further!

Addison Community Schools

Addison capped off its celebrations Sept. 27 with a theme of “Red/Black Red Out.” The varsity football team suffered a 46-0 setback at the hands of visiting Jonesville in the homecoming football game.

The Panthers started off homecoming week with Pajama Day on Sept. 23, Beach Day on Sept. 24, Twin Day Sept. 25 and Throwback 80s Neon Sept. 26.

Student representatives who made up the 2024 homecoming court included Madison McNett and Caden Olsofsky, freshmen; Gabriella Keryan and Brayden Adkins, sophomores; Grace Olsofsky and Austin Wilson, juniors; senior queen candidates Morgan Cole, Allison Morris, Kayli Kane and Molly Brown; and senior king candidates Alexander Cubberly, Coen Vaughn, Gunnar Demeuse and Jay Griewahn.

The king and queen winners for homecoming were Griewahn and Kane.

Adrian Public Schools

Antonio Brown and Madison Thomas were crowned homecoming king and queen during Adrian’s Sept. 13 homecoming. School officials said this year’s homecoming was held a lot earlier than usual. The annually held parade moved through downtown Adrian the afternoon of Sept. 13.

The Maples football team was able to secure a homecoming victory for its fans, 39-38 over Ypsilanti.

Blissfield Community Schools

The Royals had a fairy tale theme for homecoming 2024, which began Monday, Sept. 30 and continued through the week.

“Once Upon a Hoco” was the theme for this year’s homecoming week. Spirit days included Neon Day, Adam Sandler Day, Rhyme Without Reason, Fairy Tale Characters and Royal Spirit Day.

During the week, students across the high school took part in various challenges for the chance to earn class points. After the contests concluded, the winning class earned a prize of doughnuts from Morning Fresh Bakeries .

The biggest point-getter for the challenges comes in the form of float building. The freshmen class constructed a float based on “Beauty and the Beast,” the sophomores had a “Shrek” float, the juniors a “Cinderella” float and the seniors a “Tangled” float. Each of the floats and student representatives rode in the homecoming parade on Friday, Oct. 4.

The homecoming court included queen candidates Chloe King, Nicole Brewer, Nevaeh Culbertson and Ella Bailey. The king candidates are Noah Marks, Sean Samuels, Jacob Bauman and Jackson Vandenbusche.

The crowning of the king and queen took place at halftime of Friday’s football game between Blissfield and the visiting Ida Bluestreaks.

Britton Deerfield Schools

The Patriots will celebrate homecoming on Friday, Oct. 11 and will host Morenci in the homecoming football game beginning at 7 p.m. School on Friday will conclude at 2 p.m. and the homecoming parade is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

“The theme of this year is Decades,” shared Amy Good, high school counselor for Britton Deerfield Schools.

Homecoming court representatives include Alexis Granby and Nathan Good, freshmen; Alanna Gibson and Austin Naugle, sophomores; Noa Sugawara, Olivia Guenter, Henry Dusseau-Bates and Andrew Bunker, juniors; senior queen candidates Victoria Fraley, Madison Koutstaal, Autumn Smith and Abigail Culbertson; and senior king candidates Caden Freeman, Caden Eby, Easton Crick and Jayden Brooks.

Clinton Community Schools

Clinton’s varsity football team hosted Onsted Oct. 4 for its annual homecoming game. A pep assembly at Clinton High School intended to energize the student body prior to the football game capped off the conclusion of the school day. The assembly included a powderpuff football game.

Sprit week began Monday, Sept. 30 and featured something different each day of the week for the students, Clinton High School Principal Katie Bennett said.

Monday was themed American Monday and encouraged students and staff to wear red, white and blue. Tuesday was Pajama Day. Wednesday was Pink Day for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Thursday was “Inside Out” Day from the Disney/Pixar movie, and Friday was school colors day: red/black.

Clinton’s homecoming court members and its king/queen candidates were: Gradyn Whelan and Addyson Bershum, freshmen; Sam Quintana and Kyra Hendrick, sophomores; Shane Cook and Rylynn Gill, juniors; senior king candidates Mason Brodie, Mattis Riddle and Jayden Duplessis; and senior queen candidates Raven Aldridge, Kaylie Livingston and Kamryn Van Sickle.

Hudson Area Schools

Spirit week took place from Sept. 30 through Oct. 5 at Hudson. The high school celebrated homecoming with the hashtag #IAmATiger.

Jersey Day was the spirit day for Sept. 30. Tuesday, Oct. 1 was 2000s Day. America Day was Oct. 2. On Oct. 3, the high school grade levels each had different holidays: freshmen were designated Mardi Gras, sophomores Halloween, juniors St. Patrick’s Day and seniors Christmas. Friday was Tiger Pride Day in which students and staff were encouraged to wear the orange and black school colors.

A pep assembly took place Friday afternoon during the school day, followed by a 6 p.m. parade and the 7 p.m. football game with Hudson hosting Madison.

The 2024 Hudson High School homecoming court consisted of Lucian Hepker and Ava Saylor, freshmen; Jaxton Kimling and Amber Williams, sophomores; Trey Bolenbaugh and Mia Rogers, juniors; Jewel Sinclair, Jayla Bright and Keegan Shaffer, senior queen candidates; and Beckett McCaskey, Jack McMillian and Brody Tinkey, senior king candidates.

Lenawee Christian School

Seth Davis and Isabelle Brooks were crowned as LCS' 2024 homecoming royalty when the Cougars took on Britton Deerfield Sept. 27 at Cougar Field.

Class representatives who made up the homecoming court were nominated by their classmates based on his or her character as a good representative of the values of LCS and God's word, a social media post on Lenawee Christian School's Facebook page said.

"These students were chosen to represent their classmates as positive leaders who daily walk our halls as the epitome of what LCS has to offer our world in need of hope," the Facebook post said.

Representatives consisted of Levi Zimmerman and Zoe Cherfan, freshmen; Jack Favreau and Jenna Gradeless, sophomores; Parker Sharpe and Abi Willett, juniors; and Parker Bell, Callie Anderson, Elijah Brainard, Isabelle Brooks, Seth Davis, Emerson Holsopple, seniors.

Madison Schools

“Blast Through the Past on the Way to Homecoming!” was the theme for homecoming at Madison Schools, celebrated and observed Sept. 23-27.

Spirit days included Roaring 20s, which encouraged students and staff to wear black and white clothing. Hippies vs. Disco: the 60s and 70s. Color War with freshmen designated yellow, sophomores green, juniors orange and seniors hot pink. Jersey (Shore) vs. Jerseys, and Forever Blue and Gold.

Student representatives that made up this year’s homecoming court included Vance Bates and Madison Younglove, freshmen; Krys Ramirez-Vargas and Emma Dusseau-Bates, sophomores; Cameron Barber and Taelee LaVassaur, juniors; Lukas Leonard, Andrew Garcia, Bryce Jordan and Dominic Velasquez, senior king candidates; and Arlee Burkeen, Lillian Arnett, Neveah Parish and Mya Solis, senior queen candidates.

Jordan and Parish were crowned king and queen during halftime of Madison’s 32-8 football victory over visiting Hillsdale.

Morenci Area Schools

Holidays of the year were celebrated and observed during the week of Sept. 23-27 at Morenci Middle/High School for homecoming 2024.

Pajama Day was Sept. 23 and themed Christmas. Red, White and Blue Day was part of the Fourth of July themed day Sept. 24. Class colors were part of the Sept. 25 celebrations. Camouflage Day was part of Veterans Day Sept. 26, and Maroon and White Day concluded Spirit Week on Sept. 27.

The homecoming parade began at 5 p.m. Sept. 27 traveling from Wakefield Park to the high school parking lot. The varsity football team hosted Concord but ended up on the losing end of a 32-16 score.

Class representatives for the homecoming court included Brielle Casey and Drew Joughin, freshmen; Callie VanBrandt and Landon Wilkins, sophomores; Evelyn Joughin and Evan Gould, juniors; Abby Pierce, Ava Alcock, Alyssa Gibbs and Brianna Casey, senior queen candidates; and Wyatt Berger, Van Ekins, Michael Rising and Beau Shaffer, senior king candidates.

Berger and Pierce were crowned as this year’s homecoming king and queen.

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Onsted Community Schools

It will be a later homecoming for Onsted, planned for Friday, Oct. 11. The Wildcats are set to host Blissfield in the annual football game.

“Throughout the week, we have assemblies planned to play staff vs. student volleyball, powderpuff football, and other exciting activities,” Andrew Moore with Onsted Community Schools said. “Our parade will start at 4 p.m. on Oct. 11 before we play Blissfield at 7 p.m. for the homecoming game.“

Spirit Week at Onsted is themed “Game Night” and will consist of the following days: Dress in your best country outfit on Monday, Oct. 7 for Country/Camo Day. Dress to rhyme with someone else for Rhyme Without a Reason Day on Tuesday, Oct. 8. Dress like your parents do on the weekend for Wednesday, Oct. 9, which is Soccer Moms vs. BBQ Dads. Thursday, Oct. 10 is Neon Day and Friday, Oct. 11 Purple and Gold Day for students and staff to dress in their best school spirit.

Homecoming court representatives include Avery Parks and Parker Paquin, freshmen; Mattie Hallenbeck and Jack Tessier, sophomores; Mikaela Gray and Bryson Sutherland, juniors; senior king candidates Kaiden VanHeuson, Aidan Paquin, JT Hill and Griffin Amthor; and senior queen candidates Alexis Klotz, Alaina Taeff, Carli Kipke and Addison Gudakunst.

Onsted High School also is set to host the ninth annual Onsted Kiwanis Eugene Deuel Fall Scholarship dinner on the day of homecoming. The dinner follows immediately after the 4 p.m. parade.

The Onsted Kiwanis Club hosts the scholarship dinner with all proceeds from the event directly benefiting the Onsted Kiwanis Foundation for scholarships. For more information on the scholarship dinner, contact Kiwanians John Springer at 517-260-2367 or Jim Decker at 517-467-6193.

Sand Creek Community Schools

Sand Creek’s fall homecoming, themed Disney, was Friday, Sept. 27. The football game between the Aggies and Union City, won 35-8 by the visiting team, included the crowning of this year’s homecoming queen during halftime and after the marching band performance and the class float parade.

Homecoming queen candidates included Hailey Bennett, Carely Allen, Lainey Johnston and Faith Beardmore.

More: Meet this year's homecoming court representatives, queen candidates at Sand Creek schools

The homecoming court was represented by Emma Maxwell and Andon Sutherland, juniors; Grady Hazelwood and Jalyn Snyder, sophomores; and Michael Clendennin and Makayla Six, freshmen.

Tecumseh Public Schools

Tecumseh will play its homecoming football game Friday, Oct. 11 against Ypsilanti with its festivities to start this week.

Vying for the homecoming king and queen crown are seniors Mallory Eaton and Tyler Clement, Blayk Sneed and Lucas Sanders, Rita Marogi and Cooper Barkway, and Faith Wiedyk and Ben Abbott.

The remaining homecoming court representatives include Adella Juarez and Cooper Lewis, freshmen; Sophie Hannah and Lane Dittman, sophomores; and Morgan Malinczak and Jeremy Bennett, juniors.

Spirit week days kick off on Monday, Oct. 7 and continue through Friday, Oct. 11. The daily themes are Zoom Day: business on top, casual on the bottom; Family Photo Day: jeans and white T-shirts; Generations Day: seniors: elderly, juniors: middle age, sophomores: toddlers, freshmen: babies and staff: teenagers; Orange and Black Day; and Class Color Days: seniors: orange and black, juniors: pink and orange, sophomores: navy and white, freshmen: yellow and red.

The theme for the homecoming floats is based on children’s books. The freshmen class will design a float based on “Curious George,” the sophomores will construct a “Going on a Bear Hunt” float, juniors “The Lorax” and seniors “The Jungle Book.”

Powderpuff football games will highlight Monday and Tuesday of homecoming week, which will be capped off Friday afternoon with a pep assembly during the last two hours of the school day. Tecumseh will then have its parade through town.

In addition to the crowning of the 2024 king and queen at halftime of the football game Friday night, class spirit week winners and the winning floats will be announced.

— Contact reporter Brad Heineman at bheineman@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: twitter.com/LenaweeHeineman .

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Homecoming season takes over Lenawee County schools with spirit days, parades and football