Kaiser High School Homecoming comes to an end after a week of competition, games, celebration, and school spirit. At the end of it all, the Seniors came out on top with the spirit trophy. “My favorite part of [homecoming] week was definitely the assembly games,” exclaimed Senior Coen Blake. Homecoming week handled the assembly games the same way as last year. “Before [2024], the games were held during lunch, and almost no one showed up to cheer on their classmates,” Blake explained.
“By setting aside an hour each day to watch the games, we’re able to foster more school spirit amongst each grade level,” elaborated David Higa, Class of 2027 advisor. “I think having some friendly competition between the grade levels is a great way to make homecoming a little more exciting.”
The Homecoming games bounced into action with the Sumo Ball battle. Two competitors from opposite grades would rush at each other and attempt to knock the other down.
“Leadership worked hard this year to make sure that each game was fair for each grade level,” said Higa. “One way we changed the rules was in which grade levels went versus each other. Rather than having it predetermined (Freshman vs. Juniors, Sophomores vs Seniors), we instead made each matchup random.”
Similarly, leadership also worked to be more inclusive of the girls in each game. “For the physical games, such as tug-of-war and the sumo ball, we split the game into a boys and a girls round,” said Higa. “We hope to be more inclusive and give each grade level a fairer shot at winning.” If both teams in one grade won, they would sweep the other team. However, if one team won and the other lost, the game would enter a sudden-death match.
The next game of the week was the relay race, a wild rush from one side of the court to the other, contestants completing tasks along the way. This was followed by tug-of-war, and finally, the class ring on Friday.
“For years now, the winner of the class ring has been based on how many students you could fit into a ring created by the ten tallest students in your grade level holding hands,” explained Senior Koa Tigley. But this year, a problem in how the game is scored was discussed.
“This year, the class ring score was scored based on the percentage of your class you could fit inside of the ring, not the total number,” Junior Alyssa Tongg elaborated. “This change was made to balance out the game: The Juniors have almost 50 fewer students than the other three grade levels giving us a ridiculous disadvantage.”
“The problem is instead of the game being rigged against one grade level, it’s now unfair for everyone but the Juniors,” argues Tigley. “Since their class is smaller, they need less people in the ring to win, securing them an easy victory. I think that I do have a solution to this problem. Instead of having a massive ring, just have a couple people from each grade form a smaller ring. This will change the game by eliminating any discrepancies in the amount of people in each grade.”
As the cheers faded and the week came to a close, Kaiser’s 2025 Homecoming proved that while competition may fuel the games, it is cougar pride that binds our school together.
