"Mt. Juliet High School is such a special place to call 'home,' so it only makes sense to celebrate our Bear Pride with a homecoming parade." - Ms. Yachim
Homecoming week! A staple of any typical high school experience and here it is.
No matter how you're involved in the school, it's hard to miss the excitement surrounding homecoming. Friday, September 15, as we all know, was the day of the Homecoming game against Cookeville, where we got a good Golden Bear win.
However, Homecoming doesn't just start as the Jumbotron begins to count down the seconds of the game. MJ celebrated with a pep rally on the day of Homecoming, along with another event that we haven't had in the past few years: the parade.
After asking around, however, the general consensus was that most students were simply confused as to what it meant.
"I'm excited because it's something new," Adeyiola Adejare ('25) said, "but I don't really know what to expect."
This seemed to be a trend among most of those whom I asked about the parade. All anyone really knew was that they'd have an excuse to get out of class Friday morning. In light of this, I went and asked English teacher and Student Council advisor, Ms. Yachim, about the parade:
"We are so excited to have a parade this year for Homecoming! A few student leaders expressed their interest in planning one. I thought this was a wonderful idea to show our Bear Pride and to cultivate a school tradition," she answered.
This isn't the first time Mt. Juliet has had this parade, keep in mind. However, due to COVID precautions, we haven't had one since the fall of 2019. The prospect of this parade becoming a tradition again is already exciting in itself. The more festivities, the better!
This year, over 20 MJ clubs took part in the parade, along with the Homecoming Court and "a special surprise guest serving as our Grand Marshal."
The parade went around the school, which is, ". . sort of symbolic, in a way, because our school spirit will surround the school as a unified community."
Students were able to see their classmates involved in all different aspects of the school, including the dance team, the Criminal Justice Club, HOSA, cross country and many others.
Go Bears!