By Emilee Rae Hibshman

When most people think of a high school homecoming, they think of a football game with a loud crowd rooting for their team. People oftentime associate it with the electing of a homecoming king and queen and a presentation during halftime.

But many people do not know that most schools have a number of other homecoming traditions.

At Salisbury High School, the weeks leading up to homecoming find students enthusiastic, energetic and full of school spirit. The Student Government Association begins to release details of Spirit Week, and the election of the homecoming court is announced.

When the week of homecoming finally rolls around, you can see people in various costumes walking through the halls. In previous Spirit Weeks, we have had character day; college day; pajama day; throwback day; twin day; America day; red, black and gold day; pink out; wacky tacky day; and favorite team day — just to name a few.

On the day of homecoming, students from the freshman, sophomore, junior and senior classes go down to Ludwig Stadium and assemble a class float. This day is always the most exciting as the game is just a few hours away. The students work particularly hard on their floats because during halftime, a winning class float will be announced.

The next tradition is the pep rally at the end of the school day. The football team gets to be recognized, the cheerleaders spread energy among the crowd and the students support their team. The dance team, in recent years, has performed at pep rallies. The whole goal of the pep rally is to get everyone to come watch the game and support the Hornets.

Directly after school, the parade down Main Street begins. The parade includes the floats the students built, the cheerleaders, Air Force JROTC, students walking with their floats, the homecoming court dressed beautifully and the marching band. The parade draws people from all over Salisbury to celebrate the school, the students and the traditions.

Finally, the arguably most important tradition is the theme for the night — black out. The idea behind this tradition is that a single color makes the student section appear larger and more cohesive. This also unifies the team — who also wears black — with the students. This has been a long-standing tradition that all students who attend or have attended Salisbury know about.

Each and every past or current Hornet knows of these traditions and makes sure they are upheld year in and year out. Homecoming is a time when students, faculty and alumni come together to recognize each other as well as our honored traditions.

Emilee Rae Hibshman is a Salisbury Post intern and a senior at Salisbury High School.