By Jasmine Esmaili and Simone Snell

Homecoming week is one of the most exciting and spirited weeks here at Branham. The week is filled with activities and dress up days to create competition between the classes. This year’s television network theme inspired each class to prove that they were the most spirited. In addition to the dress up days, each class participated in the powder puff, male cheer, and lip sync competitions. The students were also hyped up due to the homecoming game against our long time rivals, the Leigh Longhorns.

The week started off with class colors day. Advisory period was taken up by the school rally, with the gym filled with students and teachers. The homecoming court was announced to the school, and Branham got ready for the long, fun-filled week ahead. During lunch the quad was filled with students dressed up in orange, yellow, purple, and blue while they were entertained with the class lip sync. The sophomores won the competition with their “crumping” and Disney songs. Sophomore, Omar Elserogy stated, “I was really proud of our win over the upper class men, it just proves that the juniors and seniors aren’t the best at everything.”  

Tuesday was laid back, with coach potato day and the first day of the powder puff competition. The seniors dominated the freshman in the first round of the three day competition. The male cheer was there to support both classes. The girls made the touchdowns and tackles, while the boys participated in high kicks and cheers to pump up the crowd.

The week continued with channel surfer day (Hawaiian Day) and day two of powder puff.  The sophomores and the juniors battled it out for the spot against the seniors in the playoff game. The juniors won the spot, but both male cheer teams were loud and proud, with a contest to see which cheer team could be the loudest.

Thursday wrapped up the powder puff competition with a tie between the juniors and the seniors. The players were outraged by the results. Senior powder puff quarterback Kylie Smith said, “It was so annoying. I thought there should have been a tie breaker the following day.” The two teams settled on the tie and split the points in half.

That same day each class dressed to the best with theme day. Freshman prowled the campus in their Animal Planet theme gear, and the sophomores made all their dreams come true with their Disney-themed fashion.  Juniors whipped out their favorite sports jerseys for their ESPN theme, and the seniors fist pumped the day away with their MTV-inspired outfits.

Thursday night was the long awaited night rally hosted by Junior Colby Yoshino and Senior Matt Flores. The gym was filled with laser light, and the bleachers were packed with students, while the two hosts got the school excited for Friday’s football game against the Longhorns. The seniors won the skit, with the juniors coming in a close second place.

Homecoming court winners were also announced during the rally. Brianna Fischer and Danny Do won for the juniors, while Eric Anchondo and Hayley Martinez won the crown for the sophomores. Newcomers Michelle Garcia and David Clark were crowned freshman prince and princess. Senior Homecoming king and queen were announced at the homecoming football game, and the winners were Simone Snell and Scotty Larson. When asked about the win, Simone Snell said, “This was one of my first years fully participating in homecoming week, so being crowned queen took me by surprise, and it was the cherry on top of a great week!”

The week ended with the school being filled with pride for Bruin day. Male cheer battled it out during lunch, with each team performing a special routine. Each team did an incredible job, but once again, the seniors snagged the top spot with the win. When asked about the outcome of the week, ASB President Alex Duquette stated, “It was successful because more people were involved this year than other years.”  Alex said the homecoming rally was the best she had ever seen.