After months of planning and preparation from performers and Associated Student Body (ASB) members, the homecoming assembly finally came together on Oct. 18 in one loud, minion-themed spirit rally.
In the hour leading up to the assembly, the Stogner Gym was filled with the sounds of music, chatter, and microphone tests as the performing groups rehearsed their routines for the last time. ASB members put the final touches on the decorations and donned their costumes. Then the lights turned down, and the show began.
The assembly included performances by the cheer and dance teams, band, football, flag football, Advanced Dance, drumline, and even a surprise staff dance. Each performance tied into the next with a “Despicable Me”-themed plot: Gru and Lucy searching for their missing disco ball and asking each performing group along the way for help with their search.
This idea for the “Despicable Me” theme was thought up in the ASB classroom many months before it became public knowledge. As the rest of the school focused on new classes and first-quarter grades, the ASB class got to work on their respective assignments.
Kara Kim, one of the facilitators for the Assembly Commission, explained that the planning process for this event started well in advance.
“Honestly, ever since freshman orientation, we’ve been thinking about it. It’s one of the biggest things that we do first semester,” Kim said.
While the planning started months ago for Kim’s commission, the cheer teams learned their routines just one week before the assembly. Varsity cheer learned the end of the dance a week prior and began rehearsing on Tuesday, according to junior Kaia Baker-Malone, a member of the varsity cheer team.
She also explained how she prepares at home without the tumbling equipment needed for complete run-throughs.
“Usually, I have the music beforehand and then I just go through the whole thing in my head, just marking it,” Baker-Malone said.
All this preparation for the assembly paid off and helped some people reconsider attending the dance, according to Siena Farrell, the co-facilitator of the Assembly Commission.
“We actually did have a couple of people after the assembly go up to Mr. Kelly, who is our teacher, and ask, ‘Is it too late to buy a ticket?’ So it did definitely foster that excitement,” Farrell said. “I think that the main thing is just to get people excited, have people feel like they want to be involved in the school and think that it’s worth their time and something fun to enjoy.”
The hard work shone through as different groups came together to showcase Carlmont’s spirit. Carlmont Principal Gay Buckland-Murray reflected on what the assembly stands for.
“The high school experience is about what happens outside of class time — the extracurriculars — as well as what happens inside of class time,“ Buckland-Murray said. “I think events like this allow students to shine in a nonacademic setting. It’s important to celebrate the wide diversity of talents our students have.”
Kim also spoke about the importance of including many different perspectives and groups in the assembly.
“The homecoming assembly, initially in my first few years at Carlmont, we focused a lot on football, just the football team by itself. And I think starting last year, we started thinking about how there’s a ton of other fall sports during the season. So we really put an emphasis on fall sports recognition, not just football, and this year we had girls flag football,” Kim said.
Aside from this new addition to the performing groups, the structure of this assembly has remained largely the same in past years, with a themed plot to connect all of the different performances together.
“Structurally, it hasn’t changed much, but I think we’ve gotten more creative with themes, and we’ve been taking a lot of inspiration from movies,” Kim said.
As this assembly wraps up, Kim and the rest of the Assembly Commission look toward future projects.
“We’ll be having likely one, maybe two, clubs fairs throughout the winter season,” Kim said. “Heritage Fair is the next event, which is all about honoring the cultures of our school and diversity at Carlmont and is going to be towards the end of February.”
The common goal of all participants, whether performers or ASB members, was to show school spirit and get people excited for homecoming.
“It’s always good to give people something new and something to get them excited for the dance for the end of the homecoming week,” Kim said.
