With the fairy tale theme of “Once upon a Wick,” the 89th Homecoming week was legendary. The event brought the entire Upper School together, with the Senior Supers claiming a hard-earned win over the Jurassic Juniors, Sophomore Sorcerers, and freshmen Purple Reign.
Initially scheduled for mid-October, the week was postponed to early December after the passing of Middle School Director Jeff Mercer. The Chadwick community has taken time throughout the past couple of months to celebrate his life and mourn his passing.
“[Homecoming] was always one of Mr. Mercer’s favorite events of the year,” said Upper School Assistant Director Patrick Wallace. “I’m proud of the way the community rallied around the tragedy of Mr. Mercer’s passing and acknowledged the need to postpone these events.”
Despite this rescheduling, Homecoming was still incredibly successful and engaged the whole Upper School community. Wallace even noted, “There was a silver lining in the date getting postponed to December. Coming straight out of fall break, there was a sense of higher energy. There just seemed to be a kind of magic in the air that was unique in a really cool way.”
The week started off strong with a Subway vs. Surfers dress-up theme, referencing the popular game Subway Surfers. The fun and unique dress-up themes continued throughout the week, with themes like Tuesday’s “Through the Ages,” where everything from onesies to white wigs made appearances on campus. For Wednesday’s dress-up theme–Coachella vs. Stagecoach–students sported cowboy hats, boots, and denim. Some even donned crop tops and short skirts despite the chilly weather.
In addition to the fun dress-up days, the Student Council also organized all of the Homecoming activities. New events like the Candyland rock-paper-scissors event and noodle jousting sparked excitement in the community, and familiar events returned with fun, fairy tale-themed twists. For example, the beloved relay race featured a “dizzy broom” challenge and finished with a thrilling “carriage race” where students pulled a classmate on a floor scooter across the finish line.
STUCO has been planning Homecoming week since last May and have devoted many hours, particularly over the past couple of months, to making all of the Homecoming festivities the best that they could be.
“Sleepless nights and lots of stress led to a lot of collaboration and fun meetings. We were able to find happiness in the pain and struggle that planning Homecoming week can be,” said ASB Social Chair Araya Tekeste ’26.
Student Council Advisor Ryan Zachos added, “Student Council is the heartbeat of Homecoming, and I’m so grateful to be a part of it!”
Though all the grades brought energy and excitement to the week, the freshmen shone in a way that has typically not been seen from the youngest and least experienced members of the Upper School. Finishing 3rd in both the lip-sync and tug-of-war, two of Homecoming’s biggest events, and 3rd overall, the freshmen found unprecedented success.
Tekeste said, “It’s one thing for the seniors to be all out–it’s our last year, and we’ve done this four times now–but the freshmen really showed up in ways that no freshmen class ever has. They stepped up to the plate and did not take the week for granted.”
Some of this success can certainly be credited to the freshman Student Council representatives, Katheryn Chen, Walton Lin, and Scarlette Schumacher. This trio worked hard behind the scenes to run their grade’s lip-sync and encourage participation in other activities.
“Our grade banded together to support each other, which was really cool to see, considering that we haven’t had time to be super connected before Homecoming,” said Chen. “Homecoming has been an opportunity for all of us to come together as a full grade and have one plan.”
But despite the youngest students’ hard work and impressive successes, the oldest students–the seniors of the class of ’26–came out on top, finishing first in every competition except for the Candyland rock-paper-scissors tournament.
ASB Vice President Layla Daniels ’26 said, “I think our victory was very well-deserved. We all worked so hard, and I think actually winning Homecoming has been the moment we’ve all been waiting for.”
In addition to their competitive successes, the seniors also excelled at building community within their grade, particularly when building their senior fort the night before Class Colors Day.
Wallace, a chaperone for the evening, said, “The seniors were having fun and socializing; there was such a camaraderie and celebration of being together. I’ll take with me the Class of ’26’s senior fort night as a really cool way to see that class at its best.”
The thrilling weekend concluded with the Homecoming dance on Saturday night in the MacFarland Family Courtyard at Chadwick. STUCO decorated the courtyard with lights, fake vines, paper mushrooms, and even a fake blond braid that dangled over the side of the Middle School building in reference to the classic fairy tale “Rapunzel.” A smoke machine piped out mist reminiscent of a magical forest.
Junior Social Chair Aaron Kim ’26 said, “The dance was a phenomenal way to end an even more phenomenal week. Homecoming at Chadwick is so special, and it’s so cool to see the Upper School really come together.”
