By Melissa Nunez, Staff Writer
Riverside Poly High School has held a Homecoming Parade every year for over 70 years, a custom held very dear to the community’s heart.
Poly High School continues to follow the long held tradition of a Homecoming Parade, something no other high school in Riverside does. The parade is a way the school can join together and show appreciation of all the wonderful extracurriculars to the community.
Despite it being his first year as a Poly Bear, Mr. Ybarra has already experienced the Homecoming Parade as a parent, since his son is a Poly alumni. He says he’s excited to be able to share in this experience as a fellow bear this time, and is proud of the tradition. The face behind the Parade and class floats is Mrs. Douty, our ASB Advisor. She says the parade is the pinnacle of her year and favorite part of her job. She allots all supplies for the floats and organizes the week leading up to the parade. She and ASB determine the themes of the Parade floats the summer before school begins.
It is typical for students to describe the parade as the event of the year because of float building. Through float building, each class joins together to work on something, an opportunity not given for the rest of the year. Mr. Del Campo says that, for the freshmen, it’s their first opportunity of the year to “do something without mommy and daddy.” For seniors, it’s their last chance to share something with the rest of their classmates and be able to show their seniority by winning the title of the best float. Most campus personnel described float building as “tradition” and building “community”, reminiscing on the past floats they’ve participated in.
The parade began with JROTC, which was followed by Color Guard and Band.
The cars the homecoming court rode in followed after, as well as the new additions to the Bears of Distinction.
In between, the Class floats were displayed.
Finally followed by Poly’s athletic teams.
Through the parade every year, the school shows true Poly Pride for the long history of our school.