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By Emily Hovland

AHS Student Council Advisor

Next week is Homecoming and it’s a very exciting time at Austin Public Schools. This year’s theme is “Send the Falcons Flying!” The festivities kicked off Friday with a pep fest to announce the dress up days and share information about the week.

There is no school for students on Monday, so students will kick the week off Tuesday with SPAM Day. There will be a pep fest in the afternoon to announce the Homecoming Court and the SPAM truck will be on the East lawn after school handing out free SPAM sliders to students.

Wednesday is Neon Day and donuts will be for sale for $2 in the commons before school.

Thursday is Class Color Day. Following an all-school assembly to hear from our AHS Distinguished Alumni on Thursday morning, we will kick off our year-long Battle of Connects Competition. This is a change from previous years.

Students will have the opportunity to earn Battle of Connects points throughout the school year and the competition will culminate in the spring with the traditional Battle of Connects events. On Thursday, in partnership with Hormel Foods, all students will compete in a service project packing thousands of snack bags on the east lawn. Classes will compete to earn the greatest number of Battle of Connects points. Thursday night features the annual bonfire for all AHS students following the girls soccer match against Winona.

Friday is Scarlet and White day. We will have a coronation in the morning to crown our Homecoming king and queen, a schoolwide kickball game in the afternoon, and a pep fest to end the school day. This final pep fest will feature sports captains and activity leaders about ways to get involved at AHS and the cross-country team will deliver the game ball to the field after having run it all the way back to our school from Faribault.

Immediately after the pep fest is the Homecoming parade. Each class has their own float that they decorate and fill with tons of students along with many other parade entries including AHS and Ellis pep bands, various elementary schools, football players, cheerleaders, Distinguished Alumni, newly-introduced AHS Athletic Hall of Fame honorees, and more.

Please note: the parade route is different this year! The parade begins at 4 pm on Sept. 27, at Wescott Field. Parade will travel east on Fourth Avenue NW to Fourth Street NW to Third Avenue NW and ends on the east side of Austin High School.

At 7 p.m. our very own Austin Packer football team takes on the Faribault Falcons. During the football game you will see a lot of school involvement including the AHS pep band providing musical entertainment, the Austinaires singing the National Anthem, the Homecoming Court introductions at half-time, and the Cheer Team performing a special routine. In addition, this year’s Distinguished Alumni will be introduced along with the new Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees.

Finally, on Saturday, Homecoming week wraps up with the dance for all AHS students at Wescott Field from 7-10 p.m. There will be food trucks, music, games, and lots of dancing.

Throughout the entirety of the week there will be a food drive being hosted, with all food and personal care items given to the Packer Pantry to directly support our AHS students and families. Additionally, there will be multiple home sporting events throughout the week including:

• Girls Soccer on Tuesday at 7 p.m. vs Northfield,

• Volleyball on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. vs Rochester Mayo, and

• Girls Soccer on Thursday at 7 p.m. vs Winona.

Good luck to all the sports teams on their games, and let’s hope all AHS students have a fun and safe homecoming week. It’s a great day to be a Packer!!