Fortuna the Friendly City: Fortuna High School Homecoming

The local high school, Fortuna High School, has many strange traditions to the outside eye. I've realized this after trying to explain them to an exchange student from Brazil. The first, and almost biggest, event that happens at Fortuna High School is called Homecoming, and it happens within the first few months of school. Homecoming is a week of madness. It is a celebration of school spirit. We have 4 grade levels in our high school, the youngest being the Freshmen, then the Sophomores, next the Juniors, and lastly the Seniors. The whole week is a competition between the grade levels.

Because this week is so insane, I will talk about each individual event. First, we'll start with spirit week. We have many of these through the school year, but this one is the most intense. We has a sprit week through homecoming week. Everyday of the school week, the Fortuna High School Leadership team comes up with dress up days. This gets Homecoming week started. It shows one's school spirit and gets everyone ready for the crazy week ahead. I'll give you an example of spirit week. Monday is always pajama day. Everyone hates Mondays and pajama day is an easy way to participate in spirit week. Tuesday would be something like "Tourist Day", where everyone is expected to dress up as a stereotypical tourist, with cameras and flower shirts, and funny hats. Wednesday could be something like "Science Fiction or Fantasy day" (SciFi/Fantasy), a day where people can dress up like aliens, monsters, or their favorite fantasy character. Thursday could be "Workout Day", where everyone will dress up in workout clothes. Friday, the last day of school, is always "Husky Day". The husky dog is our mascot and we like to celebrate it by wearing our school colors, blue and white.

Pajama Day

Tourist Day

Husky Day

Workout Day

The next event is float building. As I mentioned before, Homecoming is a battle between the grade levels, and so all the four grade levels compete in a float making competition. Floats (see picture below) are platforms that are attached to the back of trucks that are decorated along to a theme. Our theme this last year was big cities in America, such as New Orleans, Nashville, Hollywood, and New York. The classes compete for the best decorated float. The students work on these floats all week, and they have to be finished on Thursday of that week. On Thursday, a small town parade happens and drivers show off the floats, along with the marching band, and other entertaining exhibits by driving down main street. People from all around the town come out and watch the parade.

Float

A picture of me working on a float

Marching Band

Float

Rotary Exchange students

Homecoming Theme 2015

The next few days, Thursday and Friday, are the busiest days of the week. There is an event called "Powder Puff" and it is very hard to explain. I'll start with the background. The tradition in American football is for boys to play the sport and girls to cheer them on. They are called cheerleaders. They get the crowd excited about the game. Powder Puff reverses this. Powder Puff in an event where the girls play the football game and the boys are the cheerleaders. Only the upper classes play in this game. The Juniors and the Seniors play against each other. This game happens on a Thursday night on the football field, which we call the Husky Field.

Some Senior Powder Puff Players

Some Junior Powder Puff Players

Junior Power Puff Cheerleaders

Senior Powder Puff Cheerleaders

This is where the crazy part happens. After the Powder Puff game, everyone moves into the gym, an area where indoor sports happen, like basketball. Hundreds of people flood into the seats. They do this to watch an event called "Lip Sync". Lip Sync is a huge competition where all of the grade levels dance in a huge routine to music related to their theme. They also get judged and the judges decide who wins. The students practice all week, on top of decorating their float. As you can imagine, people are very tired after this. But, they dance anyway, and it is always fun to watch. Below you'll be able to find some videos of past routines. Sometimes the teachers make a routine, and it is always very funny. The boy cheer leading team also have a routine.

Senior Lip Sync Ending
Theme: Nashville

Teacher Routine

Videos will be coming soon.

The last event of the week in the traditional American football game on Friday night. This is a big game that everyone loves to watch. It is big because of the halftime show. A halftime show is an event that happens when a football game is half over. It is like the parade on Thursday. The floats are driven around the track and judged. Next, a strange thing happens. At the end of the field, there is a large metal "F" for Fortuna. This "F" is previously wrapped in burlap, a type of fabric, and soaked in kerosine, a gas. During the halftime show, two runners run with torches to the "F" and light it on fire. Pictures can be found below. As the floats are driving, more cars are driving behind them with a boy and a girl from each grade level siting in the back. These boys and girls are called homecoming royalty. Kids that best represent our school are picked to be the royalty of the school. Next, the King and Queen of the school are announced, and these students are seniors. After the king and queen are announced, there is a firework show. It is very fun to watch.