School may have just started, but you know what’s coming next week… HOMECOMING! Although it’s a school-wide event, the Upper School SGA is in charge of planning Homecoming here at RMA. Last week, our SGA met to talk about what we can do to make it even better than the years before. Here is your definitive guide to all things HoCo.

1. Spirit Week: Starting Monday the 18th, a week full of fun shall commence. A big part of this involves dressing up. In the days leading up to Homecoming, students wear themed outfits to show their school spirit. The themes for Spirit Week 2023 will be

• Pajama Day Monday: Who doesn’t want to start the week in comfy clothes?!?

• Anything-but-a-Backpack Tuesday: Leave your bookbag at home and bring your supplies to school in a bucket, a cooler, a kayak… anything that isn’t your typical backpack!

• White Lie Wednesday (Upper and Middle School only): Write on your shirt or wear a piece of paper with something false about yourself that everybody knows is a lie. Have fun with it! (Lower School students: This is Holiday Day for you guys, so wear Christmas jammies, a Halloween costume, or anything else festive.)

• Country vs. Country Club Thursday: Wear your best country attire (camo? blue jeans? boots? cowboy hat?), or wear your preppiest game-day dress.

• School Spirit Friday: Wear our school colors–red, white, and blue. Your Homecoming t-shirt would also be a great choice! Who will have the most school spirit–Upper, Middle, or Lower school

2. T-shirts: Homecoming t-shirts are a must. This year, I volunteered to make the design for the shirts, which celebrate Eagle football.  Shirts are $20 and will be available in the cafeteria all week starting Monday, as well as at the powder puff game.

3. Powder Puff: The annual powder puff football game will be held on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. on the football field. Girls, you will be the players, and boys, you will be the cheerleaders! Don’t forget to wear your Homecoming t-shirts because, at halftime, we are doing a color run to tie-dye your shirt so that everyone will have a unique one! Upper School students, if you would like to participate, the signup sheets can be found in your homerooms. I hope to see you there!

4. Pep rally: The pep rally will take place in the gym on Friday at 2:00 p.m., and the whole school is invited! During the pep rally, we will recognize our fall athletic teams and our Homecoming court, as well as crown our Homecoming king. We will also have loads of fun games for our faculty and SGA representatives, and a lucky few from the crowd might be able to join us.

5. The big game: The Homecoming game is the event we all look forward to the most during Homecoming week. On Friday, the game will start at 7:00 p.m., so make sure you get there early enough to get a good seat and food before the game begins. At halftime, we will introduce our Homecoming court and king. We will then introduce the candidates for queen and crown our 2023-2024 winner. Upper School students: You should have a ballot in your email; don’t forget to vote!

 6. Tennis for Tyler: Saturday morning at 10:00 am, sophomore Elizabeth Paszek will host Tennis for Tyler at the RMA tennis courts. This annual event started in 2017 and honors Tyler Strandberg, an RMA graduate who passed away on August 22, 2015. (You might recognize the name from Tyler’s Peak–the playground behind C and E Buildings that was created and paid for by her RMA classmates to honor her memory. We continue to remember Tyler each year with Tennis from Tyler since she was a state-ranked tennis player at RMA.