Portage Pride will be at its finest on the campus of Portage High School this week (Sept. 24-28) leading up to the homecoming football game against Michigan City on Friday night at 7:00. The PHS Student Council has been hard at work for months in order to make sure that all the festivities go on without a hitch.
“I think we will have a great homecoming week this year,” Student Body President Emily Evans said. “Everybody’s going to be really happy and I hope to see everybody participating in Spirit Week.”
Evans and the rest of the Student Council have orchestrated a jam-packed slate for the week.
Spirit Week
Students are encouraged to show their school pride by participating in spirit day themes for each day. Since this year’s homecoming week coincides with College GO! Week, Monday’s theme is college wear. That will be followed by Toga Day on Tuesday, Costume Day on Wednesday, Pajama Day on Thursday and the traditional Red & White Day on Friday.
Powder Puff Football Game
The annual staple of Powder Puff football returns to the Warpath on Wednesday night Sept. 26 at 6:00. The junior and senior girls are set to square off in a flag football exhibition. According to sophomore Maxwell Harsha, who is chairing the event for Student Council, participation in the event is high.
“It is just tough finding everything and getting all of the girls geared up and pumped up and finding a good crowd to cheer them on at the game,” Harsha said.
After organizing signups, forms, callout meetings, rules, workers and coaches, Harsha is looking forward to seeing the culmination of his hard work on Wednesday. He is giving the upperclassmen the edge in the contest.
“Sorry juniors, but I have to say seniors,” he said. “They seem more organized and they know what they’re doing. Maybe that’s because they’ve had a year of experience already with it.”
Homecoming Parade
The homecoming parade, which will take place on Thursday night, will be highlighted by floats from each of the classes (freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors) as they vie for the float building championship. The planning and construction of the floats will take place exclusively on Tuesday night at the PTS bus barn with class officers leading the way and any students that would like to help pitching in. The parade starts on Thursday night at 6:00 and runs down Central Avenue to Founders’ Park. The parade is chaired by sophomore Noah Volk.
The Pep Rally
The big day begins on Friday right after school as the student body gets geared up for the game with the PHS Homecoming Pep Rally. A performance from the band, the Senior Girls Dance, the introduction of fall sports’ teams and the class cheering competition are some of the highlights of the Pep Rally. It is also scheduled to include a cheerleading routine, a special contest between the Homecoming Queen Nominees and remarks from the football team captains.
“I am most looking forward to the class cheer competition,” event chair and Senior Class President Collin Czilli said. “The senior class will beat the freshmen class as they always do and I will get to put a pie in Freshmen Class President Maverick Edwards’s face.”
Tailgating and Car Smash
This year, the tailgating party prior to the football game is expected to be a hit as attendees will receive the chance to take a swing at a car as PHS holds its first ever Car Smash.
“I went to a Student Council workshop my freshmen year and I talked to a girl from Southern Indiana and they do it every single year,” Evans said. “She told me that it raised a ton of money. This year, I finally got the chance to bring it up and everybody loved the idea, so we’ve been moving forward ever since.”
Tailgating gets underway at 5:30 and leads up to the 7:00 kickoff of the football game.
Halftime Entertainment
At halftime of the football game, the 2012 Homecoming Queen and Mr. Football will be crowned. The Homecoming Queen Nominees are seniors Bri Gibson, Mackenzie Barcelli, Bella Camacho, Nicole Thomas and Courtney Groene. The winner will be voted on by the student body this week. The band and color guard are also slated to perform at halftime.
“I’m most looking forward to the whole coming together of everything and knowing that we put it together,” senior Taylor Searcy, who is the halftime co-chair with Olivia Forrester, said.
Portage vs Michigan City
The student section will be rocking as the homecoming football game against Michigan City kicks-off at 7:00 on Friday night. The Indians (1-5, 0-4 DAC) went back-and-forth with the undefeated Chesterton Trojans last week, eventually falling 24-17. The Wolves (2-4, 1-3 DAC) are coming off their first conference win in three years, stunning previously unbeaten Lake Central 20-16. There is no doubt that the Tribe will be revved up for this one.
The core group of students that has put this week together is happy that it is finally here.
“Homecoming is seriously put together by a group of like ten kids and people don’t realize how much these ten kids do,” Forrester said.