Dreary weather didn’t put a damper on school spirit Tuesday
afternoon, when Gilroy High School students sat hunched around
large sheets of chicken wire, blaring boom boxes and enough tissue
paper to gift-wrap the Eiffel Tower.
Gilroy – Dreary weather didn’t put a damper on school spirit Tuesday afternoon, when Gilroy High School students sat hunched around large sheets of chicken wire, blaring boom boxes and enough tissue paper to gift-wrap the Eiffel Tower.
“The dads are amazing,” said cheerleader Ashton Piraro, a 17-year-old senior who raised her voice above an electric saw slicing through beams of lumber in the background. “They do all the hard work, and then we come in and pomp everything.”
For those in need of a refresher course on homecoming terminology, pomps are the small, colorful rectangles of tissue paper used to flesh out parade floats. Each piece is layered in threes, folded into a fan and stuffed into individual chicken wire holes, bringing inanimate shapes to life for a brief but shining weekend of alma mater glory.
By Tuesday, Piraro and her friends had already flown through thousands of pomps in preparation for GHS’s 33rd homecoming, the theme for which is “A taste of California.” Piraro said she’s voting for Emily Powell and Bu Bu Garcia, who have been nominated to senior homecoming court.
A week of rallies and school pride-oriented fashion culminates to a homecoming parade at 3:30 p.m. Friday, which begins in the GHS parking lot at 750 West 10th St. The peppy procession continues down Princevalle Street, turns left on 8th Street and turns left on Orchard Street before circling back up 10th Street, and will include the GHS marching band, cheer squad, four separate cars for class officers and other clubs and organizations, such as the Future Farmers of America. Athletic Director Julie Berggren and science teacher Jose Hernandez will serve as grand marshals.
The Gilroy Mustangs will go head-to-head with Everett Alvarez High School in Salinas, beginning with a JV game at 5 p.m., followed by the varsity game at 7:30 p.m. The half-time show will entertain with a fireworks display, cheerleading routine, grandiose musical performance with the combined sounds of symphonic bands from all three junior high schools and the GHS marching band and topped off, of course, with the crowning of the Mustang homecoming king and queen.
Students and parent chaperones began assembling floats Monday afternoon under the eaves of the cafeteria; a meticulous operation that keeps some students on campus until 10 p.m. during homecoming week.
Although sophomore class secretary Jailene Arellano, 15, acknowledges, “it’s kind of a given that seniors always win” the float contest, freshman Juan Davalos, 15, said he’s confident the youngest group of students will give their upperclassmen a run for their money.
If turnout says anything, he could be right.
Of all four classes laboring over their floats around 5 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, the ninth-graders had a healthy-sized group. Their motif is the “San Diego Zoo,” so expect an arrangement including lions, pandas and zebras.
Not to be outdone, the class of 2013 is out to dispel its reputation as the “apathetic ones that get doubted every year,” said Junior Class President Alexia Lussier, 16, who labored alongside class treasurer Thao Nguien.
The junior’s float design is “L.A.” and will include Mickey and Minnie Mouse coming out the sunroof of a limousine that’s cruising into the sunset past palm trees and the iconic Hollywood sign.
Sophomores are keeping it beachy with a Santa Cruz boardwalk theme (sand, water, rides) and seniors are going digital with a “Bay Area” creation that entails a Golden Gate Bridge replica coming out of an iPad background.
While Lussier agreed it would be cool to win the float contest and earn the juniors some spirit brownie points, she pointed out homecoming is “more about uniting the class and getting the students together.”
Gilroy High School Homecoming 2011
– Homecoming parade will begin at 3:30 p.m. in the GHS parking lot at 750 West 10th St.
– The GHS JV football team will play Everett Alvarez High School at 5:30 p.m.; Varsity will play at 7:30 p.m. General admission is $7; GHS students with an ASB card pay $1; seniors over 60 and children under 6 get in free.
– The halftime show will feature a joint marching band/symphony performance, cheerleading routine, fireworks show and crowning of the king and homecoming queen.
– Homecoming week for Christopher High School is scheduled Oct. 17-22
