Gallery • 5 Photos

Photo by Nancy Goldfader

Homecoming King and Queen, Lucas and Alyssa.

After the lights flickered two times before going out permanently on Friday, October 21, homecoming was the last thing on my mind. I believe I was busy trying to secure a ride home while keeping a tight grip on my sanity which was fleeting with every repetitive complaint that graced my ears. In the midst of the confusion and borderline panic that was flooding the room, I heard the words, “What about homecoming?” It seemed a bit odd to me that it was even a relevant thought given the circumstances but it ultimately opened my eyes to how much Patchogue-Medford’s homecoming means to the students, faculty, and staff.
Once again, I embarked on a treacherous journey through the life of a socially active teenager. This time, however, it was in order to gain a better perspective of the widely celebrated ritual of homecoming. On the day of homecoming, each class showcases their talents through floats that they assembled and theatrical skits. Both must adhere to a chosen theme which happened to be “seasons” this year. The seniors (Class of ’17) chose summer, the juniors (Class of ’18) chose winter, the sophomores (Class of ’19) chose fall, and by default the freshmen (Class of ’20) were left with spring.

FLOATS

Based on the efforts put into the parade floats alone, Patchogue Medford High School could appropriately replace its current motto with, “Go Big, Or Go Home.” All four floats were colorful and detailed, making them very pleasing to the eye of a spectator. Nonetheless, the judges were looking for more than a pretty scene. The class whose float complies the closest with the standard is named the winner.

The freshman float had an array of colors and blooming flowers along with several other indicators of spring such as butterflies and rainbows. The sophomore float featured a classic, beloved scene from the Peanuts comic strip and a beautifully detailed background of the school building. The junior float was a cozy-looking ski lodge surrounded by snow, wintery characters (i.e. frosty the snowman and the yeti), and little penguins sporting football helmets. Finally, the senior float was a beach scene that displayed an impressive sandcastle and a surfing football player.

Skits

Writing and performing skits is an excellent outlet of creativity that adds a unique flare to Pat Med’s homecoming traditions. This year, each class was to create a homecoming skit implementing their respective seasons. In their spring skit, the freshmen followed a Wizard of Oz theme that used all the seasons together all the while focusing on their original season. It was well written but some said it reminded them of last year’s senior skit. To represent fall, the sophomore class adopted a Harry Potter parody theme in order to tell the story of a wizarding school’s attempts to create the perfect quarterback. Unfortunately, because of its unusually long length (nearly 30 minutes) and use of whole songs rather than parts, many grew bored and stopped paying attention. The junior skit was the first to present an original story about an Elf on the Shelf who comes to life to help a Pat Med athlete assemble a ragtag football team to win the homecoming game. A happy ending and an emotional montage of past winter memories concluded the performance. Lastly, the senior skit was following a group of Pat Med seniors after their last day of high school. The story was focused on trying to persuade one boy to feel emotional about leaving the high school for good.

Each skit had its own strengths and weaknesses but many of them had similar elements. Each skit mentioned Dr. Hynes and his fireside chats, for instance. Three out of the four skits also featured the infamous Mrs. Leto in a new, funny, and refreshing way. While certain skits had too many songs and other skits lacked direction/focus, all were performed with heart.

Results

Compared to the number of people who watched the skits, not many people stayed to watch the game. Results were obtained through social media almost as soon as they were announced. Soon, Pat Med students’ social medias were filling with comments and opinions on the matter.
The overall winning class of homecoming was the Class of 2018. This did not come as much as a surprise to many juniors because they knew the amount of effort they put in and how hard they worked. What turned out to be a huge surprise was the sneak attack of the Class of 2020. The freshmen came in second place overall, placing the seniors in third and the sophomores in fourth. No one could’ve seen that coming!
Unfortunately, there are some who don’t grasp the concept of friendly competition. I was somewhat less than surprised when I went on twitter later that day to see that many seniors were blaming the juniors for their “loss”. Some were even claiming that the juniors “ruined the seniors’ homecoming”. I now feel like I must apologize. How silly of me to think homecoming was something for the whole school to enjoy. I think it’s important to realize that life isn’t about winning – it’s about experiencing. You can’t win everything and there will always be someone bigger than you, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up on life. You get back up, keep moving forward, and work towards being your best.