For the past two weeks, students in all four grades at Old Rochester Regional High School have been preparing for the school’s annual Homecoming skit competition. Each class is tasked with performing a ten-minute skit during the all-school assembly that involves the ORR bulldog, the opposing team for the Homecoming game, and at least one dance battle.
“We’ve got a talented group of people, but it’s been hectic,” Junior Class President Katie Gillis said as the juniors were preparing to go over the choreography for their Super Mario-themed skit.
“It’s normal for skit rehearsals to be that way,” Vice President Brett Rood added. “They bring our whole class together.”
At the same time, the freshman student council members were delegating classmates to lead choreography for certain points in their 1980s-themed skit.
“Our skit is the 1980s versus the present day,” Freshman Class President Lucy Zhang explained. “The ‘80s is ORR, and present day is Apponequet. Apponequet is trying to go back in time to capture the original Bulldog so they can beat ORR.”
“The freshmen are really motivated this year, and I think people are going to be very impressed with their final product,” commented social studies teacher and freshman class advisor Lindsay Tallman.
While the majority of the participating students were busy learning and practicing their dance moves, smaller groups worked on the traditional banner for the skits. Ranging between 10 to 15 feet long and six to 12 feet tall, the banners incorporate the grade’s name and skit theme. They are displayed behind the grades’ designated seating section in the gymnasium on Homecoming day.
The artistic talents could be seen throughout the halls during the nighttime rehearsals as each class claimed a classroom or section of hallway to lay out their large posters. As their classmates practice in the library, a group of sophomores draws pencil guidelines on their Smurfs skit banner.
Freshman Vice President Payton Lord was overseeing her grade’s banner design. “We’re thinking of painting the banner in neon and glitter for the ‘80s theme,” she said as she gathered supplies with her classmate Katelyn Luong.
The seniors’ poster this year is the largest of the four, at about 16 feet long and 12 feet tall. It depicts a sunset on the African savannah that goes along with their Lion King skit.
“This is definitely my favorite poster we’ve made,” said senior Hannah Powers, who has worked on all four of her grades’ Homecoming banners. “I like how the sunset design is more simple than the others, and it’s massive so it makes it way better,” she laughed.
ORR Update
By Jo Caynon