Homecoming: Changes made for 2026 week
Homecoming traditions bring students together each year, but from last year to this year, changes have brought a new look to a familiar school tradition.
Mead High handed over the student council club to a new advisor, Amanda Lee, and she looked to convert their 2026 homecoming dance in different ways.
Senior Alivia Dunaway has been involved in student council since her sophomore year. She said some changes needed to be put into place.
“I think the past few years, homecoming has not been boring, just not all that it could be,” Dunaway said.
Dunaway said in past years, homecoming hasn’t been taken too seriously by the student council. The members would meet when they were available and discuss the theme for the dance and then proceed to decorate when the day came.
“This year is more of an extensive process,” Dunaway said. “We’ve met quite a few times, and we did fundraising to get stuff to decorate it.”
Lee had heard the students talk about some changes they wanted. While wanting to “deliver” some changes, Lee still executed former traditions.
“I kind of want to make sure that I am fulfilling all the traditions before I think about introducing new ones,” Lee said.
Two years ago, the Mead Days Committee paid for a 360-photo booth. Lee heard the excitement from the students about it, so the student council fundraised to cover half the cost of the photo booth while the Mead Days Committee contributed the other half.
Along with the 360-photo booth, Mead had not had a real DJ. After having a couple student council meetings, the group decided it was time to hire a real one.
“They wanted a different way to receive their music, maybe have those mashups,” Lee said. “Maybe just to have a little bit more current songs and have access to many songs.”
Senior Ava Marshall attended the dance and enjoyed the changes and effort put forth. Last year, Mead’s homecoming played games throughout the night. Marshall did not care for the games.
“I didn’t love that when we would do the games, we got split into groups of people who attended the school and people who don’t attend the school,” Marshall said.
After attending other homecomings, Marshall enjoyed not having Mead’s dance be a “mosh pit.” There are line dances that people learn from others, so everyone can enjoy the night.
Lee appreciated seeing the students dressed up during the week of homecoming, but the students had nowhere to take pictures in their costumes. So, Lee set up a photo-op area to give the students a chance for pictures.
“I love to see students’ character and creativity come out,” Lee said. “This year I got permission from administration for students to keep their phones on to take their own pictures.”
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