Homecoming has been a long-standing tradition celebrated in high schools to commemorate returning alumni. With its grand opening in 2015, Reedy High School first adopted this tradition as forthcoming, to anticipate future graduates, its first real homecoming happening in 2018. As the years went by, the school established activities to promote school spirit, such as dress-up days, dances, and community pep rallies. This year, however, a new COVID-19-safe activity was planned by the principal, Mr. Ziaer, as an alternative to the regular activities. 

“The idea is to create a reverse parade dynamic, where instead of all of the participants being paraded, groups that have ongoing seasons right now are going to have locations around the building, and community members will drive by,” Mr. Ziaer said. 

School administrators particularly planned the new drive-through parade this year as an alternate activity for the otherwise annual community pep rally. 

“I don’t think it is going to replace it. We hope and plan on having a pep rally next year,” Ziaer said. “That certainly wasn’t the intent. The intent was to create some kind of experience in light of COVID.” 

Mr. Ziaer designed the drive-through parade to follow FISD’s Covid-19 protocols efficiently. 

“We have groups of people that have been interacting with each other on a daily basis; it’s not a new mixture of students,” Ziaer said. “We’re still going to be supporting the mask expectation, all students will be wearing their masks.” 

Even with its well-thought-out preparation, the principal has expressed a bit of concern regarding whether students will enjoy this new event. 

“Being candid, it’s going to be different. [During] this time, we’ve lost a lot of the community feel to the campus,” Ziaer said. 

As for the students, many are unsure of how the homecoming parade will measure up against last year’s homecoming events. 

“To be honest, I don’t know what to expect,” cheerleading captain Reese Greco said.  “I know most people don’t know about it, so I’m curious to see how it’ll all turn out.” 

The uncertain anticipation for the homecoming parade has been a prominent sentiment this year since the school had to cancel many of the regular activities due to safety reasons. 

“There are some things that we can’t control that are hindering it from being as great of an experience,” Ziaer said. “There are a lot of things we’re missing out on right now, and we’ll have to make the most of it.”

Still, homecoming week will remain a fun tradition for those willing to try out the new events. 

“Personally, I’m excited about homecoming this year with my group,” Greco said. “You can choose to still have fun in different ways!”