Photo Credit: Eric Evans

Expecting to witness several talented student performers, M-A was buzzing with anticipation before the Homecoming Rally Friday.  Amanda Tachis belted out “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas, accompanied by guitarist Nirvan Rouzbeh while the class of 2010 cheered for their fellow seniors.

MCs Sam McClure and Chelsea Barnes hyped the crowd by encouraging each grade to yell louder than the next. But, the crowd fell silent for Holly Smolik’s beautiful rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner.

Assistant varsity football coach Jason Nikalao gave an inspiring speech guaranteeing a homecoming victory for the Bears over the Dons. After his speech, the team entered the gym for their traditional performance of the Haka. The cheerleaders followed the traditional dance with an impressive act showing their significant improvement as a relatively new squad.

M-A showed their drive to go green when the Environmental Committee, supported by the football team, gave a speech reminding the students that Saturday is 350 day, a day dedicated to bring Carbon Dioxide emissions down to 350 parts per million. The entire school sported a fashionable green wristband to demonstrate their support for the movement.

Mr. Amoroso and Mr. Giambruno, two of the loudest and proudest teachers at M-A, led the cheer-off, granting victory to the juniors. Leadership began the egg game, with four volunteers per grade. The game looked fun, but confused the crowd because many didn’t understand the rules. Yet again, the juniors were victorious, winning the egg game.

Orlando Ferguson, the highly anticipated crowd favorite, performed his original song “I Got my Swagga Back,” which was stuck in the heads of M-A students for the rest of the day.  Ferguson had been the talk of the school all week and lived up to his hype.

McClure and Barnes returned to the stage and announced the staff Homecoming Court, which included Mr. Wong, Ms. Martinelli, Ms. Torres, Mr. Florio, Ms. Snow and Mr. Amoroso. The traditional ticket giveaway had the seniors climbing over each other and flipping over chairs in search of a prom ticket taped to the bottom of one chair leaving Gigi Baffico as the lucky winner.  Sofie Madden was also rewarded with a ticket to this year’s winter formal.

With the rally almost over, only the celebrated M-A dance team could convince the hungry students to forget about the pending lunch. The dance team, as always, didn’t disappoint, leaving the crowd pumped and excited for the football game and dance later that day.

That night, after the Bears suffered a 33-7 loss to Aragon, the students were hoping for a memorable dance. Thanks to the fabulous dance, those who attended quickly forgot about the loss. However, decorations did not live up to the high expectations leadership had set. Much to the disappointment of the students, the DJ ran out of music in the last 45 minutes and began to repeat previously played songs.

Despite many student’s doubts, the Hiller Aviation Museum was the perfect venue for the Homecoming Dance, and many students enjoyed walking through the museum to look at the planes and cool off after dancing.  Unlike last year’s Homecoming, there were no teachers with flashlights, allowing student to dance with more freedom.