Lemont High School’s Homecoming week allows students to partake in several fun activities, including spirit days, skits and the Homecoming dance. But students aren’t the only ones enjoying this time as the LHS. Faculty and staff engage in spirit days, as well.
“I’ve always been a very expressive person and somebody who is not afraid to kind of be creative and express myself and everything, so Homecoming is really no different,” teacher Jon Deguzman said.
Sporting a vintage bowl cut on 70s/Disco Day and portraying a “saloon attendant” with props put to use during passing periods, Deguzman is an avid spirit week participant and continues to uphold his reputation.
“It’s such a notable experience in a high school career. Why not own it? Why not embrace it?” Deguzman said.
While the conversation about how dress up days contribute to a lack of focus in the classroom or unnecessary drama between classes has sustained, LHS staff joining in on the fun proves that Homecoming week can be both productive and entertaining.
“That comes with that with the territory,” Deguzman said. “Whenever you have a fun experience like this, you have to kind of give and take.”
Yet, not everyone is as eager as Deguzman when it comes to dressing up and committing to the themes. Student Council Advisor and teacher Kathryn Kupchek shares what it is like to condition underclassmen who may be apprehensive to participate in spirit days.
“[The freshmen] are used to doing days like crazy hair day or mismatched clothes. So, it’s almost more like we have to explain to them it’s going to be on steroids here at LHS,” Kupchek said.
Little do the underclassmen know that it will not just be the student body “on steroids.”
“My involvement in Homecoming really is twofold. I’m really not necessarily trying to send out a message or anything, I just, myself like to [participate in spirit days] and then in the hopes that other people will kind of see this is really a great thing,” Deguzman said.
The first impression that teacher participation in spirit week creates allows for some of that initial concern to be alleviated.
“Freshman year I was like ‘no one dresses up, that’s weird’ but then when I saw everyone included and even the teachers and everything, I was like ‘wait this is fun,’” senior Victoria Gubala said.
“I remember seeing my math teacher dress up and it just made me realize that a lot of people do participate,” sophomore Ava Howe said.
When staff and faculty participate, it allows room for unique interpretations of theme days as well. Whereas go-go boots and bell bottom leggings lined the halls on 70s/Disco Day, the LHS English department took a different approach by recreating the characters in iconic 1970s sitcom “The Brady Bunch.”
English department chair Angela Duensing wore pigtails and carried a teddy bear to resemble the youngest member of “the bunch,” Cindy Brady. While teachers Jeana Parry and Philip Lazzari, busted out the afros and the aprons.
“I know many like Class Color Day and Blue and Gold Day and that’s great. I actually am partial to the other days because it sort of pushes people a little bit out of their comfort zone,” Deguzman said.
Not only does teacher and staff participation make for an entertaining week, but it makes the overall experience of homecoming week at LHS an unforgettable and incredibly communal time for students and staff alike.
