Spirits were high in Norwin the weekend of October 3. The Norwin community celebrated Homecoming with a wide array of spirit-building activities. Faculty and students worked tirelessly to prepare everything, and ensure that a great time was had by all.
This year, the official theme of homecoming was “Entangled in Our Memories”, inspired by the movie Tangled and the fairy tale of Rapunzel. In the weeks leading up to Homecoming, Norwin High School was decorated with purple and gold streamers representing the fairy tale theme.
This theme was very popular with both the Student Council officers who planned it and the students attending the dance. Student Council members proposed ideas for potential themes at their meetings leading up to Homecoming, and carefully debated which one would be the best for the school. Eventually, the magical theme of “Entangled in Our Memories” was selected.
“I think that they wanted a whimsical feeling to the dance,” said Norwin Student Council and Yearbook advisor Angela Hufnagel. “Something soft, and something pretty, and that led them to chase down this theme.”
To kick off the HOCO festivities, Norwin High School held a spirit assembly during school on Friday, October 3. Norwin’s band preformed the Alma Mater, All I Do Is Win, and other songs to raise school spirit. Athletes and coaches from all fall sports were recognized.
The assembly saw the return of the hit “Finish the Lyric” competition from last year. Students tried their best to keep singing along to pop hits. Show Choir, Girl’s Volleyball, and Cheer all made impressive runs in the competition, however, in the end, the Peer Buddy and Mentor Club won, securing the coveted Golden Plunger.
After the competition, Norwin students and staff faced off in an intense volleyball match. One team of volunteer students played a team of teachers and faculty in a 12-minute match. When those 12 minutes wrapped up, the students defeated the staff.
“It was really fun,” said Junior Boys Volleyball player Jhonny Almeida. “There was a bit of pressure, knowing that the whole school was watching, but I had a good time.”
Although these competitions were fun, they served a deeper purpose in unifying Norwin for the Homecoming season.
“It was great to see the teachers and students come together to support the spirit of homecoming,” said Norwin assistant principal Brandon Kash. This is Kash’s first year as an administrator at Norwin.
The assembly concluded after the Volleyball game, and students were dismissed back to their classes to finish the school day. Students were given a 12:15 early dismissal to prepare for all Homecoming activities.
After school, Norwin’s class officers held the Homecoming Carnival. The freshman and junior class offices have been working tirelessly for months to prepare this event, which provides an awesome experience for Norwin children of all ages. The carnival offered face painting for all, and sixteen different game booths could be played. The intention of the carnival was to create a fun atmosphere for children of all ages.
“I think the homecoming carnival serves multiple purposes,” said Norwin Junior Class Office advisor Danae Brentzel. “First of all, it brings the Norwin community together to celebrate homecoming. Also, it offers a fantastic opportunity for the class officers to demonstrate leadership and community building.”
Once the carnival concluded, students grabbed their baby powder and filed into Norwin High’s stadium for the Knights’ Homecoming matchup against Hempfield Area. For this game, Norwin students chose a whiteout theme, a tradition for homecoming. Hempfield dominated the first three quarters, but facing a 16-26 deficit in the fourth, Norwin scored 17 unanswered points to defeat the Spartans for their first Homecoming victory in five years.
“It felt really rewarding to win,” said Homecoming King and football player Jacob Knight. “It was the first homecoming game we’ve won in a while, which was really nice. It feels like all of our hard work is starting to pay off.”
At the game, the Homecoming King and Queen were announced, and members of the Homecoming court were recognized. In the weeks leading up to the game, students from each grade level could vote on who they believed should represent their class at Homecoming.
For the seniors, Shae Sida, Logan Kellar, Katie Rabo, Joseph Cramer, Jacob Knight, and Joshua Bauer were selected for the court. The seniors had three boys and 3 girls’ candidates, while every other grade level nominated two female candidates. The Juniors chose Ava Bobby and Madelyn Kugler. Additional court members include freshmen Giuliano Giannikas and Maren Monssens, and sophomores Leona Dinh and Avery Pons.
At halftime of the game against Hempfield, Jacob Knight and Logan Keller were inevitably chosen to be Norwin’s King and Queen for 2025.
“It felt great. It was a huge honor, and I’m very thankful to be named king,” said Knight.
After the game, most students went out to eat or shared other quality time with friends.
Saturday morning, the Homecoming festivities began immediately with the Homecoming Parade on Main Street in Irwin at 10:15 a.m. Representatives from Norwin High School clubs and sports teams passed out candy and toys to Irwin children. District administrators also rode in the parade, creating a unified atmosphere for Homecoming. However, planning the parade created many challenges.
”We struggled with getting enough vehicles for each group to ride in,” said Student Council President Tyler Patrick.
The tireless efforts of Norwin’s student council and class office members is what made Homecoming possible. All of STUCO’s 77 members played a role in creating this magical experience for the community. Student Council ran the voting for king and queen, coordinated the halftime show to announce king and queen, and bought the flowers for the court. For the dance, they created the theme, bought and set up the decorations, and coordinated the DJ and photobooth for the dance. They coordinated the parade with Irwin Borough, and bought everything the parade floats passed out to kids.
”Homecoming is the most elaborate and fun event STUCO creates,” said Hufnagel.
After the parade, students went home to prepare for the dance starting at 7:00 P.M. Most gathered at eachothers’ houses for pictures and food prior to the dance.
When the doors to Norwin High School opened at 7:00 on Saturday, students were transported into a fairytale wonderland of fun. The DJ and dance floor were stationed in the Aux Gym, playing songs the students had suggested in the weeks before. In the cafeteria, Just Dance was offered to any students who wanted to play. The cafeteria provided pretzels and pizza for refreshments to students tired from all the dancing.
To develop the magical atmosphere of “Entangled in our Memories,” Student Council created a lantern-making station where students could create their own floating lanterns from the movie Tangled. These lanterns could be drawn on and were floated down a water table.
The dance continued until 9:00, and students had a great time dancing and singing their hearts out with their friends. After the dance, student council members stayed to clean up the gymnasium for school the following Monday.
Although it was full of fun, Homecoming weekend 2025 had a true impact on Norwin. Friends felt closer than ever, and countless memories were made. This exciting weekend will be entangled in the memories of Norwin students for years to come.
