Spirit hits fever pitch each fall around the United States as high school and college students prepare for their annual homecoming game.  Drawing crowds of all ages and generations of students, alumni and local residents, Homecoming is an American tradition that has been carried out for almost a century.  This "welcome-back" tradition often includes a big (often well-attended) football or basketball game, pep rallies, parades, bonfires, school spirit dress-up days, and-- of course-- the Homecoming Dance, the culmination of the week’s festivities.

What Homecoming Dance is complete without the Homecoming Court?  Schools across the nation handle this in various ways, though often times the King and Queen must be in their senior year of high school, or in their final year of college.  Some schools also include a court with underclassmen that were nominated by their classmates.  They’re often called Escorts, though some schools have taken to crowning a Homecoming Prince and Princess or Duke and Duchess.  The votes are taken from the entire student body, and the coronation can happen at the game, the dance, or even a pep rally a few days prior to Homecoming.  Of all the high school formal and semi-formal occasions, Homecoming week has always been one of the most fancy-free of all, encouraging participation and spirit from everyone.

Hollywood has had its way with Homecoming festivities throughout the years.  The dance always comes with a disaster.  The heroines and heroes of the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer dusted demons and vampires during their doomed dance.  (But who is to say the dead can’t dance, too?)  Whether students found themselves a part of a horrifying Homecoming, a romantic realization of the dance, or a dramatic and heroic football game, we were always ready for a good time in the fall.