ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Fall is in the air, meaning it is time for Homecoming festivities.
Liberal High School’s Homecoming fun will be happening next week, and LHS Student Council Sponsor Cindy Orrantia said there will be plenty going on.
“This year's LHS fall Homecoming will be Sept. 23 through 27, that's when all of our activities and spirit days will be taking place. Our spirit days will be: Adam Sandler Day (Monday), Students as Teachers, Teachers as Students Day (Tuesday), Fraternity vs. Sorority Day (Wednesday), College/Jersey Day (Thursday) and then Redskin Pride Day (Friday),” Orrantia said. “We'll also have an inter-grade competition for homeroom competition for local charity for TikTok, which must be uploaded to our Google form Sep. 26, and we're really excited to see what the students come up with for that. We'll also have a staff competition for the best Redskin Pride socks, and judging for that will be at the Homecoming pep rally. We’re just really excited for everything that will be happening for this year.”
This year's Homecoming parade will be Friday, Sept. 27, with lineup starting at 1:30 p.m. and the parade itself starting at 2:30. The route will start at Trail Street and end at Light Park at 11th Street. Orrantia said the parade is one of her favorite parts of the Homecoming fun.
“I always love seeing the community come together, Homecoming is always such a big event. I'm hoping we have a lot of entries – we usually have about 70, but I'd love to see even more!” Orrantia said. “I've also had some individuals and groups in the community get in touch with me and ask about participating in the parade this year, which is also pretty exciting. I want the parade to be really big, and I would love to see everyone have a good time and have fun seeing all the different floats that are rumbling down the street. As far as what we're looking for with the floats, we'd love to see anything and everything – if you've got a great float idea, we'd love to see it. If you've got a classic car, we'd love to see it. In the past, we've noticed the little ones in particular enjoy the floats where they can get candy, so if you've got a float idea that includes that, you're welcome to join. We'd also love to see all the different local mascots like Sparky the Fire Dog and Louis the Saint from Seward County Community College, so they're welcome to be part of the parade too. We'll also have several student floats, and I can't wait to see what they come up with.”
Orrantia offered further encouragement for community participation in this year’s parade.
“Homecoming is a pretty big event, and a lot of people in the community will be there, and it's a great day to just bring everyone together,” Orrantia said. “If any individual or group wants to put a float together, they would just need to get in touch with me, my email is
Orrantia also talked about this year’s Homecoming theme.
“I absolutely love our theme for this year, which is 'Giving Back.' In the spirit of charity this year, Homecoming will focus on the local charities of our community to highlight their work to support our school and town,” Orrantia said. “The Seniors have Kids Inc., the Juniors have Liberal Area Rape Crisis/Domestic Violence Services, the Sophomores have Stepping Stone Shelter, and the Freshmen have Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas. I feel like we're already giving back to the community by making our students aware of what charities there are throughout the area and how they work. We wanted this year's theme to have a little more of a purpose. Last year's theme was the seasons, which ended up going really well, but we wanted to do something different and do something more with Homecoming for this year. We wanted to inform our students – and the rest of the community – about these charities and what they do, because there are some people who don't know about them, so it's a bit of education for everyone about what all Liberal has to offer.”
Through this year’s theme, Orrantia said she hopes to also spread the word among the community about civic engagement.
“I do have an informational sheet about what all will be going on for Homecoming this year, and we've been giving out that information to the students and other faculty and staff,” Orrantia said. “And if there are people in the community who want to learn more, we can help them as well, and they're more than welcome to get in touch with me. We've also been in touch with some of the leaders of the charities we're working with to see if they want to help in putting the floats together with the students.”
Overall, Orrantia said, this year’s Homecoming fun should be a great time for the whole community.
“My favorite part is seeing all the students enjoy it, that's the best part for me. It does take a lot of work, but it's worth it seeing the students having fun and seeing the community participating in everything, which is just a great feeling,” Orrantia said. “I'm really excited about Homecoming this year, I hope to see a lot of community turnout to the parade that Friday afternoon and I hope to see a lot of people at the game that night and cheer on our Redskins, it should all be a lot of fun!”
