In anticipation of the Homecoming parade and football game this year, our Associated Student Body (ASB) officers aimed to take the excitement and school spirit outside the high school campus. During the week before Homecoming, members of the ASB with members of band, choir, and cheerleaders visited Huntington Middle School, Carver Elementary School, and Valentine Elementary School to bring the spirit to younger crowds.
The visits took place at lunchtime, where the ASB team enthusiastically greeted the students and explained the meaning behind Homecoming to the San Marino family. Representatives identified themselves as former alumni of the schools they visited and therefore developed an individual rapport with the middle and elementary school students. Their mission did not end at simply inviting the families to the Homecoming parade and football game but to also get the future generations of Titans excited about our school events. Students at each of the three schools demonstrated visible excitement as the groups pulled up to their respective schools to meet them wearing the school colors, each carrying an instrument, and sporting smiles. Several younger students were excited to greet high schoolers they had seen around town and at performance venues. Staff members and teachers at each school received the visit warmly and appreciated how it would boost excitement around the city-wide Homecoming events that San Marino citizens annually come together to enjoy.
For ASB and their collaborators, the outreach is more than a promotion. It embodies the unity and shared identity that characterizes San Marino. By bridging the elementary and middle schools with the high school community, the event served as a strong reminder that Homecoming signifies more than just one night of celebration—it symbolizes years of shared experiences that start in the earliest grades.
The collaborative effort between the band, choir, cheerleaders, and the ASB encapsulated the spirited atmosphere and inclusion that characterize Homecoming as the defining event of the school year, extending the sense of cohesion between San Marino’s youngest and oldest students. “We introduced ourselves as alumni of their schools and connected with them by sharing how homecoming brings San Marino together and builds community spirit,” Marching Band member, Braveton Lin, 11, said.
