Blast from the past: Hoco

Silver Creek teachers shared their experiences, spanning from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. Fashion has changed through the years, music shifts every generation, but when teachers walk through those doors they feel the energy in the air.

Joylynn Boardman, Silver Creek High School English teacher, graduated in 1988 from Sandia High School in Albuquerque, N.M.

“I had a really good time with my date, we went with another couple,” Boardman said. “Overall I had a really good time and my senior homecoming dance was probably one of the most memorable.”

Steve McNichols, Silver Creek High School social studies teacher, graduated from Longmont High School in 1994. He noted that today’s homecomings share a strong resemblance to the ones he experienced in the 1990s.

Many Silver Creek teachers remember overcoming nerves before enjoying the night, Erin Woltkamp, an English teacher at Silver Creek, who graduated in 2001 from Green Mountain High in Lakewood.

“I remember being shy to dance at first until I just relaxed, stopped caring so much about what other people think, and embraced the fun,” Woltkamp said.

Rachel Turner, who works in the science department, graduated in 2008 from Buffalo High School, in Buffalo W.Y. Turner’s homecoming was very different from Silver Creeks, where the dance was immediately after the football game. Nobody dressed up, students went in their game attire, if they were royalty they were dressed up in fancier clothes.

Turner recalled one memorable year when she was homecoming royalty and had to wear her dress out in the very cold 30 degree weather. “I wanted to wear my winter coat and the person in charge was like, ‘No, you have to go out in your dress.’”

The music reflects the era, though the devices have changed, from CDs in the past to digital playlists today. For Woltkamp, speakers blasted a classic early 2000s mix, like Green Day, Destiny’s Child, NSYNC, and Weezer, all at the whim of a DJ who often ignored requests.

Looking back, Woltkamp reflects about the music and how it affected the mood of the dance floor.

“Sometimes they would play awful music,” she said, “But it didn’t stop anyone from dancing and enjoying the moment.”

Whether now or then, she noted that “dancing is all about recognizing the awkwardness in one another but getting so swept into the music that you don’t care.

By contrast, at Boardman’s homecoming dance in late 1980s, the theme centered on a classic Beatles song and popular songs from the radio or music videos featured on MTV. Attendees, she recalled, sported big hair, puffy dresses, and bright colors, a style that feels worlds away from the fashion nowadays.

Annie Bleiler, the RaptorTech counselor, graduated in 2015 from Brandywine Heights High School in Mertztown, P.A. At her high school, one of the biggest things during the homecoming week was Spirit Week. Her school featured themed days where they would have similar days to Silver Creek with Twin day, and School Colors Day.

“I feel like the whole week was a holiday,” Bleiler said.

Lauren Kohn, an English and Silver Creek Leadership Academy (SCLA) teacher at Silver Creek, graduated in 1993 from Richmond-Burton in Richmond, I.L. Kohn talks about how her events leading up to homecoming were very similar to Silver Creek’s; they had a homecoming parade and celebrated the football team all week.

“I feel like it was just the whole excitement of the week,” said Kohn, “we [Richmond- Burton High School] kind of had a little something each day.”

One of the events that Kohn talked about was how there was a dunk tank that the administrators would participate in and how it was a fun and memorable event for her.

McNichols also noted how lucky students at Silver Creek are to have so many homecoming events beyond just the dance, pointing to the parade, Spirit Week and the powderpuff game.

Woltkamp notes that much of the fashion nowadays is similar to the early 2000s, with trends making comebacks.

She pointed out that “exposed midriffs, micro skirts, and spaghetti strap tops [and dresses] were popular then too. ” Boys typically wore fancier suits, far more formal than what attendees wear today.

“There were tons of people on the court,” said Boardman.

The announcement was held during a large assembly attended by the whole school. The homecoming court was expected to dress formally for the event and photos.

Kohn shares an interesting take on the homecoming court and the ideals that are aligned with it and that the court sometimes feels very cliquey and that she was very excited about finding out that she was on the court and then the reality of being in a car and getting called out onto the field was not as appealing.

Kohn explained how she sort of protested (in her own way) the parade by wearing “jeans and Birkenstocks and my snowboarding jacket,” instead of the expected dress or fancier clothes.

Homecoming proposals have also evolved, both Kohn and Turner had a similar homecoming proposal situation in which it was predecided on who you were going with based on your significant other. There weren’t many cheesy homecoming signs and as Turner said, “it was just implied that you would go together.”

However Bleiler shares that some of her homecoming proposals were done not by sign, but over her schools Broadcasting Network, where they would do news and talk about sports. They had professional cameras that they used to make commercials and features and mini documentaries, where the set up of their Broadcasting Network was like a TV studio.

Despite the different times, dress codes, and older playlists, one thing always remains, homecoming is where students come together to create memories and have fun with each other. Whether it was dancing awkwardly to Green Day, freezing in a formal gown at 30 degrees, or wearing Birkenstocks as a quiet protest in the parade, the Silver Creek High School teachers look back on their homecomings with fondness.

It’s not just about the football game or dance floor, but it’s about the people, the laughter, and the feeling of being part of something bigger. While some trends may change, the heart of homecoming remains timeless.