Since the 1980s New Providence hasn’t had a homecoming dance or even a game, leaving students and teachers questioning why we don’t have have this tradition while other schools do.

During the 1960s and 1970s, New Providence High School did have a homecoming game. For the game, students would decorate floats with their classes and compete to see whose was better. The floats, along with the dance, were a great way to express school spirit and had many people eager to participate in the events.

Mr.Cattano, a gym teacher at NPMS and the NPHS varsity basketball coach, attended our high school from 1969-1973 and said that students were excited and enjoyed participating in these events.

We also had a homecoming dance, which included electing a homecoming queen as well as a court as shown in this picture from a NPHS yearbook from 1970.

Sometime between 1980 and 1990 New Providence High School stopped having homecoming dances and games. This has left many current students wondering whether or not we will ever have them again.

Vice principal of NPHS, Mrs.Kwiatkowski, explained that homecoming is something that “we as an administration support” because “building school spirit is something that is important to the overall community and we are supportive of events that would do just that.”

Although it may seem simple, having homecoming at our school would require a lot of thought and planning.

To “find a home” for homecoming, teachers or staff would be needed to be advisors and help with the event, which is a big undertaking. Then, students would need to find a way to have fundraisers to raise enough money like a bake sale, or car wash, and then use it to plan the game and dance, which could cost a lot.

Many students in our community already support the idea and have brought it up during the past few years. Recently underclassmen have voiced even stronger support for the idea since they don’t have as many events to attend as the upperclassmen.

Nina Illipronti, a freshman, said:  “Not having homecoming limits students from having the full high school experience, especially freshman and sophmores since they don’t have prom”.

Mr.Carengelo, the Director of Athletics at NPHS, said the topic of a homecoming football game has been brought up in the past, and more recently and that he was “certainly open to the idea” but also mentioned that logistical situations would have to be worked out. He also thinks that it would be a great way to build school spirit in the future and added that “this year seems great so far” in terms of school spirit.

With the right planning and support, a homecoming game and dance could be very possible and successful, it just needs further discussion.