by Lily Smiley,Andrew Pouliot and photos by Will McColl and Michaela Conrady
From themed outfits in the hallways to the annual pep rally and homecoming game, Pilgrim High School celebrated homecoming week with a series of exciting events, bringing the entire student body together for one of the year’s most anticipated events.
Following Columbus Day weekend, spirit week officially launched on Tuesday, October 13th with Safari Day. Students kicked off the festivities by wearing animal prints, Dora the Explorer gear, and outfits inspired by wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin.
The themed days continued on Wednesday, October 14, with an East Coast versus West Coast showdown, as students represented the side of their choosing through their outfits. West Coast attire included beach and surfer gear, hip-hop apparel, Hollywood-inspired looks, Starbucks merchandise, and Raiders or Lakers jerseys. Meanwhile, East Coast supporters showed off preppy and country club styles, city streetwear, Dunkin’ merchandise, and Bruins or Celtics gear.
On Thursday, October 15, students’ styles clashed during Holiday Battle, with each grade assigned a different holiday to represent. Freshmen embraced the winter holidays, sophomores represented Valentine’s Day, juniors celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, and seniors showed off their Fourth of July spirit.
Spirit Week wrapped up on Friday, October 16th, with a school-wide Pink Out, where students wore pink to show both school spirit and breast cancer awareness. The day featured a “Rocks, Paper, Scissors” tournament hosted by the Class of 2027. Students purchased one-dollar beaded necklaces from Mrs. Ames to enter. Throughout the day, participants challenged each other in the hallways; the winner of each match claimed all of their opponent’s necklaces. By dismissal, Kyle Cirelli amassed the largest collection to take home the crown.
The Holiday Battle of Spirit Week also included Pilgrim’s annual pep rally, where students gathered around the softball field to celebrate Pilgrim athletics ahead of the big game.
The rally kicked off with a jolt of energy from senior announcers Brett Taylor, Kharmalina Mitchell, Jaelyn Hunter, and Chase DeGregorio. Once the crowd settled, four-year chorus and chorale member Addison Eaton delivered a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem.
Immediately after, music echoed across the field as the Pilgrim Cheerleaders rushed out to fire up the crowd. With cheers still erupting, the Unified Team followed, leading the way for the rest of Pilgrim’s fall sports roster: Cross Country, Girls Field Hockey, Boys & Girls Soccer, Girls Tennis, Girls Volleyball, and last but not least, the Pilgrim Patriots Football Team. Each team made a grand entrance with their own custom run-out songs and acrobatics, driving the crowd’s excitement to a fever pitch.
Once the teams settled on the field, the class games officially commenced. The action started with a fast-paced game of Musical Chairs. Grade-level rounds produced the following winners:
Freshmen: Analia Rodriguez Garcia and Landon Thereaux
Sophomores: Jodie Wang and Garret Butler
Juniors: Natalie Fratus and Liam Skodras
Seniors: Amber Mello and Christian Snead
In a chaotic, all-star finale pitting all the previous winners against each other, Analia Rodriguez Garcia and Liam Skodras outlasted the rest to claim ultimate victory.
The afternoon closed with a grueling test of strength: Tug-O-War. The seniors set the tone with a swift victory over the sophomores. Minutes later, the juniors advanced by defeating the freshmen without breaking a sweat. This set the stage for an intense, high-stakes final showdown between the upperclassmen. After a fierce battle, the senior class pulled through to claim the championship title.
The pep rally brought the school day to a thrilling close, leaving the student body buzzing with pride and anticipation for the annual Homecoming football game the following day.
The pep rally must’ve gotten the football team fired up as the following day, Friday, October 16th, they would defeat Mount Pleasant High School with a score of 42 to 6.
The Homecoming Game is particularly important each year as the senior class is given the privilege of bringing couches and sitting in the endzone. This is a favorite tradition and results in a packed endzone full of spirit. Along with this, the game features a pink out theme in order to raise awareness for breast cancer. The student section was fully covered in pink attire as was the football team all to show their support.
The game’s first touchdown thrown by Grady Weaver to Christian Brown sent the team into a points frenzy. With multiple interceptions following this, the Pilgrim Patriots kept on scoring all the way up until halftime where the game took a break at a score of 36 – 0. Starting the 3rd quarter the Patriots did not let up, scoring another touchdown bringing them to 42. It was not until the final quarter of the game that Mt. Pleasant scored their first and only touchdown. Even despite this, the game was called with a couple minutes left giving Pilgrim a clear and decisive victory.
Throughout this game there were several great performances such as those by Mason Whiting, Anthony Farhat, Brayden Gagnon, Ayden Yehle, and Conner FitzGerald who each scored a touchdown. Along with this the Pilgrim defense really shined this game, not allowing even a single score until the very end.
Overall, this was a phenomenal homecoming, one of the best ever for Pilgrim, and translated into a great Homecoming Dance the next day.
The Homecoming dance took place on Saturday, October 17th, and is one of the most loved events throughout the year with many waiting in anticipation for it. As it is also the only dance for the freshman and sophomore classes, the dance floor is packed each year.
The theme this year was starry night with hundreds of attendees tearing up the dance floor and enjoying the night, sometimes getting so carried away that they had to interrupt the music. The court consisted of 8 phenomenal seniors: Hope Badejo, Natalia Guzman, Gulianna Vanasse, and Lia Wasilewski for the girls and Chase DeGregorio, Adam El Rhazali, Dominic Napolillo, and Brett Taylor for the guys.
This year’s Homecoming crowned Adam El Rhazali and Gulianna Vanasse.
From dressing up in West Coast clothing to cheering on the football team in pink and even dancing to music of Homecoming, this year proved to be one of the best. So much school spirit was shown throughout the week, and it ended with a bang.
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