by Sylene Argent
There were plenty of things to do to celebrate being a Red Raider on Friday as Essex District High School hosted its annual Homecoming event for the students, staff, alumni, and greater-community to enjoy.
The students began the festivities with a pep rally that morning, which was sure to stir up school spirit that would last until the end of the day. The students then enjoyed a barbequed lunch, participated in a walkathon to Sadler’s Pond, and cheered for their favourite players in the student-staff football game, before ran began to trickle down.
Later in the evening, the Essex Football team faced off against Villanova, which Essex went on to win 15-6. Local band, Bigg Wiggle, then performed to wrap up a very packed day of fun.
EDHS Student Success Teacher, Lindsay Drozdz, said the entire student body and staff members at the school were excited for the big football game that night.
Annually, she noted, the Homecoming event is held at the top of the Thanksgiving weekend as former residents and EDHS students head back to their hometown to spend the holiday with family.
“It is usually a good turnout, Essex is a very supportive community,” she said. “There is a lot of history, tradition, and pride.”
One thing the students were sure to be thankful for was the school’s new bleachers that they were able to use to sit upon to enjoy some of Friday’s festivities. In 2016, two years after the local high school was rebuilt, the bleachers were taken down because they were deemed to be unsafe due to their age. From that point, there was no longer a place for students, parents, or grandparents to sit while cheering on athletic meets out on the school’s field.
Thanks to community support through online voting, EDHS was able to garner a $100,000 grant through the Aviva Community Fund last schoolyear to put toward the purchasing of new bleachers. The grant, combined with the around $30,000 the students were able to raise, was enough to buy the tiered-seating structure.
Drozdz noted the bleachers have created a sense of pride within the student body, and, fortunately, was put in place so they could be utilized for sporting events that took place earlier in the schoolyear.
She again thanked the community of Essex for its support on the bleacher project. “Everybody is super excited,” she said of having the bleachers and being able to use it for the Homecoming activities.