Photo courtesy of Owen Walter
Toga Tuesday is back: more to know about hoco
September 9, 2021
Sept. 18 will be Prospect’s first outdoor homecoming dance. Prospect hosted prom last spring in George Gattas Stadium, but this will be English teacher Danielle Menacker and French teacher Jenna Sanstead’s first time planning an event of this type. According to Menacker and Sanstead, other schools in District 214 will be looking to Prospect to see how homecoming is pulled off as an all-grade-level outdoor event.
“It’s definitely a lot [to plan] … there are a lot of pieces to it, so I think overall, we are excited to be bringing an event that is open to all students at Prospect,” Sanstead said.
Besides Menacker, Sanstead and other staff members participating in the planning of Homecoming week, also known as Knightimes, over 200 Prospect students have volunteered to organize this event. Menacker and Stanstead hope that students will enjoy this coming week along with the changes from tradition that it will include.
Not only will this be the first Homecoming at George Gattus Stadium, but it will also be the first to not include a Homecoming King and Queen. In the past, the nominees for Homecoming King and Queen have been more focused on athletics, according to Sanstead. This year, there will be a larger pool of nominees that were selected from athletics, arts, activities and academics. A nominee will then be voted by Prospect to become one of five individuals of homecoming royalty.
“I think our goal … [is] that we want everyone to feel included,” Menacker said. “It’s not a popularity contest … [people who get nominated] will be people who embody those qualities that are important to our school.”
Besides the physical location and homecoming court changes, the price of homecoming will be going up $10 from previous years. According to Menacker and Sanstead, this is because the price hadn’t been changed in at least a decade, and the new ticket price reflects usual inflation and price increases. The profits from ticket sales will be used to fund the Knightimes events such as Movie Night and the other activities that will be set up at the homecoming dance. While there are changes, Menacker and Sanstead hope that the excitement for these celebrations will be the same.
“I hope students are excited. Our team has put forth a lot of effort in planning … and we really want our students to experience some kind of normalcy this year,” Menacker said.