Homecoming ’09 = More work…

...than I bargained for! Remember I told you that October is one of my busiest months with work, so how in the world I got wrapped up in coordinating the Sophomore float is really beyond me! I must admit, I had fun along the way and even though I felt like I was in over my head, I had a few strong friends around me to support this effort and I kept reminding myself, this is a service for others, this is a service for others, this is a service for other, so do the best you can and keep a smile & positive thought.

You see even though Robert is a sophomore and is part of this class, his help was limited to a few moments here and there, due to his football schedule, so I truly was doing this to help the sophomore class as a whole as well as Mrs. Vitulli, the sophomore class sponsor, it is her first year teaching at BHS and as Roberts English teacher, I couldn't leave her to do this all alone. I figured the hard part was done, we had a location, a trailer and a theme, all I had to do was communicate and share information, I can do that, it's what I do, but boy was I wrong, it was so much more, but I wouldn't change any of it for the world. Over all the experience was a blast, it gave me some time to get to know some other students that Rob doesn't usually "hang" with, plus it did give me some quality time outside of soccer to interact with 2 of my girls from the team, so that was nice.

We learned a lot along the way and even though we placed 3^rd, behind the seniors and juniors, I was very pleased and proud of the finished product. After all it was a design by a sophomore, built by sophomores, all I needed to do was provide materials needed, and communicate information to the rest of the class. Student participation was low, but the ones that came out did the best they could with what they had and worked around the conditions of the weather, I could not be prouder of them and the great parent volunteers who came and helped as well!

A special thanks to Olivia's mom, Rachel for providing the location, and opening up her home for us to invade and use, and to Olivia's grandmother April, who was instrumental with the making of the mascot heads, as well as any other task that needed getting done. Thanks to Randy for being Randy and just getting it done as well as my support system through this whole process, to Kelley Rosenbalm for making sure the kids had snacks each night, and to all the students who came out to participate, adults who helped chaperone and/or donated supplies and/or materials. Without your help the memories made would have not been possible!

Here are some pics that captured the efforts:
Getting started, creating the base for the floor, Bratton & Rosenbalm pounding away.Emma wants to help too...she is helping out for her big bruder.Mascot creations...the making of Wolf a.k.a "Howl".Painting the base...Rob & Bratton putting some elbow grease into it.Painting the mascot heads.Glittering the letters and making them shine.Putting the mascots together.Carefully placing the letters on the back wall.Putting the back wall up.Putting the jail together...working late into the night, Lanier is thinking, don't lock me up in here.Final product.Beat'em up, Lock'em up, Throw away the Key! And that is exactly what we did to the Bulldogs last night!