Music boomed throughout the Edison High gymnasium as students poured in for the annual Homecoming Dance on September 30. Unlike past years, this year’s homecoming was earlier than the usual mid-October date. However, that didn’t deter many Eagles from embracing the theme of “Into the Cosmos.”
Student volunteers showed up as early as 10:30am and stayed until 4:00pm to help set up for the space-themed evening, “Into the Cosmos.”
“The set up of the dance went well,” said Student Council (STUCO) President Charvi Padmanambhini ‘24. “During setup, our main goal was to get the stars turned on and hung up and visible to achieve the space look, as well as all the other decorations on the wall. We had to focus on the projectors for a great amount of time as we had to make sure there were no technical issues during the dance.”
“The setup of the dance went well because we planned beforehand,” added STUCO Treasurer Srihari Senthilkumar ‘24. “However, it was a bit time consuming, and we did run into a lot of errors, especially with the projectors. We also had to get a variety of materials to get the job done, and we needed a lot of determination since we were pressed for time.” Although Senthilkumar feels STUCO could have done better with a bigger budget, he thinks the dance was a success overall.
“We had to be as efficient as possible, but in the end, everything turned out pretty good,” he said.
Vedik Upadhyay ‘24 and Idhika Turya ‘24 were crowned Homecoming King and Queen, respectively. The other senior nominations to the Homecoming Court included:
Paolo Pittenger
Jaxon Appelman
Justin Reid
Shiloh Estoque
Georgi Petrov
Akshay Khatri
Christian Amann
Brady Boslet
Aidan Carter
Madelyn Donner
Madison Zaccaro
Brianna Cortez
Emilia Innocenti
Raina Patel
Soumya Joshi
Elise Bullock
Julia Kim
Jada Bonds
Various members of the Court expressed their gratitude for their selection.
“Being selected for the homecoming court truly felt like an honor,” noted Julia Kim ‘24. “As a kid, I always watched different Cinderella story movies and lived my life like I was in those movies, and wearing a sash and walking across the gym really enhanced that feeling.”
“It was very surprising being picked and knowing it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity made me feel ecstatic,” added Shiloh Estoque ‘24. “My experience this year was definitely unique compared to others since it had rained during the Homecoming Game, causing the Pep Rally to be canceled. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed being part of the court. I was taken by surprise at how nice the cosmic theme turned out—I loved the colorful lights, stars, and decorations designed by Student Council.”
This year’s nominees were also instructed to go around school collecting donations for children with cancer up until the Friday before the dance, an experience that Kim felt consisted of its own set of challenges.
“[Fundraising] was a lot harder than most people would think since no one carries cash around anymore,” said Kim. “The one question I never thought I would get sick of, I got sick of: ‘Do you have Venmo?’ In the end, though, knowing I raised money—even if it wasn’t much—felt good since the fundraising was all for an amazing cause.”
At the dance, which saw over 650 students in attendance, the DJ played a variety of music, ranging from 2020s rap to 2010s pop. STUCO also provided students with a variety of food options, such as drinks, pizza, chips, and candy, which attendees could purchase while resting in the cafeteria.
Students gather around to dance in the circle at Homecoming.
(From left) Anika Prakash ’24, Tulsi Patel ’24, Kosha Patel ’24, and Yashvi Patel ’24 pose for a photo.
From volunteering to the deejay playlist, there was no shortage of reactions to this year’s Homecoming.
“I volunteered, but I thought it was a really good experience,” said Alyssa Dantes ‘24. “ I got to get volunteer hours while talking to my friends, so it was overall quite fun. I think the theme this year was also really cool and unique.”
As far as music, this year’s deejay focused more on older catalogs of music.
“Last year’s homecoming was better,” said Kanishk Ragimanu ‘25, “because the DJ was better.”
Others also acknowledged the deejay’s limited music selections.
“I liked that he played classic songs, but Drake and Travis Scott both dropped albums and he could’ve played songs from those,” said Mahidhar Venkataramanan ‘26.
Despite mixed opinions of the music, Homecoming was a fun, memorable experience for much of the Edison High population.
My favorite aspect of the dance was how everyone at the dance came together and had fun all at once,
— Julia Kim ‘24
“I enjoyed Homecoming because I was with my friends for most of the time and we had a lot of fun,” said Venkataramanan. “I was in the mosh pit for most of the time but at the same time, I made sure to socialize with other people in the cafeteria…I took a lot of videos with friends and I even got the chance to be in the center of the mosh pit, which was nice.”
“My favorite aspect of the dance was how everyone at the dance came together and had fun all at once,” said Kim. “Even if some people aren’t ‘party people,’ it is still such an experience to get ready with your friends and dance the night away, so I would definitely advise underclassmen to go and make their high school years memorable!”
