The Mill Pulls Out All the Stops

From October 5th to the 10th, Oakland Mills celebrated its annual homecoming week in full force, celebrating another year of classic Scorpion fun. The week featured the annual traditions of spirit days, the boys’ powderpuff volleyball and girls’ flag football games, a pep rally, the homecoming game, and ended with the highly anticipated dance.

In mid-September, the Student Government Association (SGA) met to discuss and decide the spirit days for the homecoming week. They decided on: Adam Sandler Day, Ages and Stages Day, Western Wear, Wrong Occasion Day, and ending the week with the class color day for pep rally.

Homecoming week also coincided with our celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, and in that same enthusiasm, the Escorpiones Latinos club spent months planning an assembly, geared towards showcasing Hispanic culture here at OM. The assembly was held on Wednesday of homecoming week. The student organizers and staff involved spent months planning. Senior Jocelin Maeda Tovar, the president of the club, said, “This is important for me because this is a way to show our culture to the school…” The assembly was full of energy, featuring two of our very own fine arts groups: the OM Shredheads and the junior dance company. The performances were also made possible by the talented members of Escorpiones Latinos. Some highlights included dances of various Hispanic music styles, the showcasing of quinceañera dresses, and musical performances. In her advice to the club for next year, Maeda Tovar stated, “Continue doing great things, and continue doing the assembly!”

In addition to the festivities, two organizations took the opportunity to do good for the community. DECA, a student organization designed to prepare students for careers in marketing, finance, and entrepreneurship, held its annual “Save the Teacher” fundraiser. Students contributed money towards saving a teacher of their choice from being “pied,” and the teachers with the least funds ended up having a pie in their face at the pep rally. The options for the year included Mrs. Woodard, Coach Brewington, Mr. Harris, and Mrs. Anderson-Little. Of the four, Mrs. Woodard was saved, and the rest were “pied.” The club ended up raising $1,035 for the OMHS Food Pantry.

In addition, the OMHS Student Leadership class, headed by Mr. Berry, raised money by selling homecoming candy grams. In them, students and staff were able to send one another small bags of candy with kind notes. The class ended up selling out of the candygrams, and the proceeds also went towards the school’s food pantry.

Throughout the week, there was high anticipation for the annual homecoming dance, which draws in the glitz and glamour of Oakland Mills. Kate Johnson, a freshman, stated, “I’m looking forward to hanging out with my friends…seeing them all in one place and being able to have fun and not worry about schoolwork is very exciting.” Coco Scott, a senior, added that she looked forward to “Good music and a good DJ.” Karli Holliday, another senior, added, “…I just want to have fun…I wasn’t here last year for homecoming.” Some artists students wanted to hear at the dance included popular singers and rappers like SZA, BabyChiefDoit, and Bad Bunny.

On the Friday of homecoming week, OM students partook in the exciting traditions of the day. For weeks, the class student governance boards planned and executed their homecoming hallways, where the grades competed against each other for the title of best hallway. This year’s theme was Pixar movies. The seniors took on Toy Story, juniors chose Monsters Inc., sophomores had Coco, and freshmen were given Finding Nemo. The competition this year was tough, as the hallways featured music performances, characters, huge decorations, and some serious dedication. Seniors ended up winning the hallway, with the sophomores behind them, juniors in third place, and freshmen in fourth.

During fifth period, classes were dismissed to the stadium to have the OM Homecoming Pep Rally, run this year by our new Athletic Director, Coach Brewington. The pep rally, MC’d by Mr. Ringgold, featured the advanced OM Choirs singing their rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, the presentation of the colors by our JROTC Cadets, performances from the OMHS Marching Band, and the Poms Team. The pep rally also featured our cheerleaders, both varsity and junior varsity, and all the members of our fall sports for the year. At the end, Mrs. Florida announced results for both the homecoming hallway and the homecoming court.

Throughout the week, students nominated and voted for candidates for the homecoming court. For the class of 2030, they selected Frederico Emperador and MiLena Jones; the class of 2029 chose Cassarah Melton and Gianna Haylett; 2028 tapped Kalaiyah Conney and Priscilla Darko; and the class of 2027, being the seniors, received four students, two sitting on the court, and another two for the crowning of Homecoming Royalty. The winners for court were Amajiah Rogers and Mikko Parker, and for homecoming royalty, Addie Toyinbo and Ricardo Reyna were elected. All winners were presented with a sash to be worn at the dance and football game.

In the homecoming game, the undefeated OM varsity football team faced off against the undefeated Guilford Park Panthers. The game was a nail-biter, with constant fluctuations and surprises throughout the game. Ultimately, it ended in an unfortunate heartbreaker of 24-34. The crowd came out in numbers, though, selling out the game and filling the stands with chants and loud cheering. As always, the OMHS Marching Band took the field during halftime, with their senior drum major Kayden Bunting and junior drum major Jocara Knight. The show was themed to pay homage to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and was chosen to reflect the rich diversity of Oakland Mills. Capturing the legendary showmanship of HBCU bands, the show was filled with precise high-step marching, dynamic drum major choreography, and another feature with the Poms Team. True to HBCU tradition of transforming popular R&B and pop hits into field anthems, the band played Bruno Mars’ “That’s What I Like” and “Finesse,” Jessie J’s “Bang Bang,” and closed with the timeless crowd-pleaser, “Cupid Shuffle” by Cupid. During the game, OMHS alumni were honored, as well as the homecoming court.

The homecoming week ended, as it always does, with a formal dance at OM. This year’s theme was “A Night in Paris,” and in keeping with the hallway theme of Pixar, the dance was inspired by the movie Ratatouille. The DJ played many of the homecoming classics, along with some newer tunes, and many song recommendations from OM students.

Mrs. Florida, one of the key coordinators of the entire week, commented, “This year was great! Lots of people participated in spirit days, the hallways were all excellent and competitive, and the dance was a ton of fun!” With all the fun of the homecoming season, Oakland Mills showed up and showed out to make another memorable year for our student body.