Basketball Homecoming occurred February 7-11 and continued through the weekend.  The homecoming season included Spirit Week dress-up days, a pep rally, the homecoming crowning ceremony, the basketball game against Heritage, and a homecoming dance.

   “Overall, I felt like homecoming week was a great success – especially considering that we were contending with two unexpected snow days the week prior,” Student Council sponsor Zoe Smith said.

   Spirit activities included dress-up days and decorated hallways based on the theme Throwback Spirit Week. Each day, students had a new prompt that included the option of two decades to choose from. 

  “My favorite day was everything but a backpack! This is because I loved seeing everyone’s cool ideas,” freshman Marybelle Castagno said.

   Class councils for each grade worked together to decorate an assigned hallway based on a different decade. The juniors won the competition with the 80s theme. 

   “I was told our hall was 80s, so my mind immediately went to neons and funky, weird shapes to put in the balloon arch. So I found some fun disco balls that were different colors and ordered those and some fun neon balloons to just make the hallway look fun and bright,” junior Macey Mcghee said.

   On Friday, February 11, the students met in the arena for the homecoming pep rally. This celebration included the honoring of the homecoming maids, listing accomplishments of other sports teams, and informing students to come out to the home basketball game against Heritage.

   “I enjoyed watching everyone perform and all the school spirit,” junior Alexa Crowder said. 

   That night, the homecoming crowning ceremony took place before the start of the games. The title of Homecoming Queen went to senior Essynce Norwood. In addition to the queen, Southside chose its first ever Homecoming King, senior Kelvin Johnson. Norwood, Johnson, and the other maids for each grade level walked out on the court to be honored. 

   “I loved being a homecoming maid because I got to dress up, walk with the homecoming court, and take pictures with all my family and friends. I also became closer to some of the other maids,” freshman homecoming maid Charlize Buie said.

   Later that evening, both basketball teams fell to the Heritage Eagles. Despite the loss, the Lady Mavs felt the emotion from the homecoming ceremony since Norwood was a member of the team.

   “Even though we lost that game, it was a really great night because Essynce had just won homecoming queen and we were all really happy for her,” sophomore basketball player Sophia Neihouse said.

   That following night on Saturday, Feb. 12, the school held its first homecoming dance since the 2020 school year.

   “It was great to have a dance again. The fall of my sophomore year was the last time we had one, which feels like forever ago after all that we have been through. It was cool seeing the different groups of people that showed up and had a good time,” Student Council president Braxton Waller said.

   The event held in the West Shelter and themed “Dancing Through The Decades” wrapped up an action-packed homecoming week. The dance included concessions, a photo booth, a DJ, and decorations supplied by the Student Council which hosted the event.

   “I thought the homecoming dance was amazing and super fun. I think the best memory was dancing with my friends and the dance circle,” freshman Gabi Dupree said.