This year’s Homecoming Week at Satanta, which truly involved every student PK-12, was truly a memorable one. Participation in Spirit Week, based on the “We’ve Got the Beat” theme, was up from past years with the senior guys’ rendition of Motley Crue providing a highlight. The pictures from the grade school were especially adorable.
On Friday, the Satanta High School student council, led by Mr. Tim Dusin, organized a full day of activities for all students in grades 6-12, which started with two hours of school service projects. These projects included cleaning and organizing the main bus barn, weed eating and trimming grass at the football stadium, repairing siding on the press box, and organizing storage areas at the high school.
The most impressive effort of this service time, however, involved an expansion of project Remove-the-Wall-Carpet, which was begun last year when Mr. Dusin’s Enrichment group was awarded a Western Kansas Community Foundation grant for school beautification. This project is nearly complete with students on Friday adding quarter-round trim to frame out the newly installed, taped and mudded, painted sheetrock pieces. Vinyl school spirit wall art, created by Mrs. Carlie Rooney’s Indian Ink class has also been added and updated.
This ongoing project initially sought only to remove the 70’s-era wall carpet from the area above the student lockers in the main hallway. For Homecoming, the effort was expanded to include the removal of the carpet from the concession stand area and the addition of new sheetrock to cover the decades-old carpet adhesive that was left behind. This project has not been entirely completed (excuse our dust), but the transformation is well underway! These workdays (really work mornings) have become a Homecoming tradition with students working on school projects until lunch and then transitioning to float building for the parade in the afternoon.
The parade began on Friday at 2:30 p.m. with floats leaving the high school and making their way down Main Street before taking a slight detour to pass the Satanta LTCU before arriving at the grade school for an all-school pep rally that included the participation of both the junior high and high school cheerleaders and all-school photo taken by Mrs. Courtney Dunn from atop the elementary school gym.
Friday evening, Mrs. Crystal Naylor’s KAY unit sponsored a dodgeball tournament, and the Satanta Booster Club hosted a fall athlete booster meal. The bonfire was set aflame at 8:30 p.m., and the evening ended with an outdoor movie night hosted by Satanta FFA.
Before Saturday’s football game (moved because of a shortage of officials), Satanta FCCLA, now led by Ms. Erika Alexander, hosted a sloppy joe fundraising meal, which began before the Coronation Ceremony at which Edwin Arana and Yanisa Gonzalez were crowned 2023 Football Homecoming King and Queen. It was a FULL week of fun and school spirit that reminded us all that we have much to celebrate at small school, which definitely has a big heart.