A look back on an unforgettable Spirit Week.
by Mike Montgomery
photo by Kevin Fleming
Homecoming and Spirit Week are one of the most exciting and cherished traditions at TJ, always packed with fun and entertaining spirit days, an enthralling football game, and finished off with the famous Homecoming dance. The event-filled week is always one of the highlights of the year, so in case you missed anything, here is a breakdown of how things went.
Spirit week kicked off Monday with a student favorite: Pajama Day which, as you may have guessed, entails students showing off their sleepwear. Following on Tuesday was Neon Day, where students were able to wear bright and colorful neon clothing. Wednesday was Movie Day, where students wore the outfits of their favorite movie characters. Thursday was Toga day, and students showed off their Greek side, sporting bed-sheet togas.
Finally Friday was TJ day, and Spartan brown and gold were reflected brightly throughout the halls. "TJ Day is definitely my favorite spirit day because I am a true Spartan at heart, and I really like to wear war paint," said Senior Julia Puckett. This was also the day of another beloved TJ tradition, the Powder Puff Game: an exhibition football game between the senior and junior girls. This year the seniors came out on top 7-0, with Senior Mallory Knoll scoring the only touchdown.
Finishing off TJ day was the pep rally. Senior Asia Dorsey hosted the event, which consisted of several classic TJ traditions. First, all the fall sports teams were introduced and applauded. Following were the cheerleaders, the TJ band, and a hilarious performance by the "Hot Boys," where the senior boys performed several dance numbers in cheerleader uniforms. Another classic tradition that was carried out this year was the "pie-prank" event, where a sophomore, junior, and senior stage a pie eating contest, and end up smashing one of the pies in the freshman’s face.
Also happening Friday was an electric Homecoming football game at All City Field, where TJ crushed Aurora Central 48-3. Scorers from TJ included Jordan McGee, Matt Averyhart, Billy Sprague, Brandon Tara, Mario Valladolid, and Leon Baskerville. The Spartans notched a total of 327 yards, 16 first downs, and a total of seven touchdowns to make for one memorable Homecoming Game.
With Spirit Week coming to a close, and the football game already past, the only thing left of Homecoming week was the dance. This year’s theme was "My Big Fat Greek Homecoming," which took place in the TJ Gym on Saturday September 27th from 8 to 11pm, and was sold out as usual. The DJ of the event was Spanish Teacher Kyler Jackson. "I always love the Homecoming dance because I really just like getting my groove on with all of my friends," said Senior Sheyna Ruzycki. The dance went off without a hitch, and seniors Brandon Murray and Karina Desroses took the titles for Homecoming King and Queen.
With Spirit Week and Homecoming finally over, we look back on what is probably the most exciting week of the school year; spirit days, the pep rally, the football game, the dance…these are always the most fun and remembered events of a student’s high school experience, and this year was obviously no exception.
