Homecoming Week
On the Weekend of October 20th, Grace Church School’s first ever Homecoming weekend took place. Throughout the weekend, students took part in activities ranging from themed costume days to varsity games, culminating in the much anticipated Homecoming Dance.
Spirit Week:
Spirit week was full of fun costumes. Monday was Pajama Day, Tuesday Dynamic Duo Day, Wednesday Jersey Day, Thursday Decade Day, and Friday School Spirit Day. Friday also included a pep rally at the lower school with a special performance by the Cheer Team in the morning, a pep rally for the middle and high school that accompanied the official opening of the new gym, as well as the unveiling of the new school mascot, the Griffin. Featuring performances by the Jazz Ensemble and a presentation of all the members of the fall sports teams, the pep rally was full of excitement and love for the Grace community. Katy Arons ’20, who almost single-handedly created and planned the whole event, said, “I originally thought it would be nice for the whole school to have a dance, as we only had Prom for the seniors. Freshman year I went to the Student Council and told them my idea. They suggested we base it around a sports event.”
Sports:
Girls Varsity Volleyball
Julia Kramberg, a staff writer and Girls Varsity Volleyball player, shared her thoughts about the game:
“The Varsity Volleyball team put up a good fight, but sadly lost in three sets to Berkeley Carroll, an extremely difficult opponent. The energy from the crowd definitely helped us play. Overall as a team we did make many errors that we know we need to address, and we’re going to work on them to keep improving as a team.”
Boys and Girls Varsity Soccer
On Saturday, October 20th, both the Boys and Girls Varsity Soccer teams had games in Central Park against Friends Seminary. The Boys Varsity game got off to a fast start thanks to a great goal by Chase Gardner ‘20 in the opening minutes of the game. Then, in the second half, Gardner got his second goal with an absolutely amazing strike from about 30 yards out to give the lead back to Grace. The win was capped off late by Sebastian Morris ‘21 with a nice finish. Strong team play, great goals, and a beautiful save from goalkeeper Sam Perman ‘19 led to a 3-2 victory.
The Girls took the field for the second half of the doubleheader. The team played very well, with many strong offensive opportunities created by attackers Ava Pingree ‘19 and Lena Arnsten ‘21. Goalkeeper Rania Challita ‘22 made countless saves throughout the game, but none bigger than the many consecutive shots she stopped from the ground in the dying minutes of the game. In the end, the girls fought hard and came out with a tight 0-0 draw to cap off an eventful day in Central Park for Grace Soccer.
The Dance:
The Homecoming dance which took place on the night of October 20th received a mixed reception from students. Luke Eisman ‘20 said, “It was a good effort considering it was done by one person.” According to Luke’s statement, the dance was alright, but gave insight to what could be improved for dances to come. Kaitlyn Major-Hale ‘19 said, “I thought it was a super fun environment, and the seniors were the life of the party.” For seniors who attended, it seems that the dance was all they could have hoped for in the three years prior when they did not have a homecoming dance. For others, this was not the case, Chloe Strauss ‘20 said: “It’s not a city thing. It felt forced.” For some, the concept itself seemed so foreign to Grace a school which prides itself as being different from the typical high school. Overall it seems that the dance was successful for what it was, an attempt to create a tradition at a non-traditional school.
Overall, Homecoming has validated Grace as a fully united, strong spirited high school that honors and celebrates our sports teams, as well as included the whole student body in an exciting week-long event.