The Homecoming dance was held the Saturday before Homecoming Week and was filled with many activities such as Spikeball, cornhole, and, of course, lots of dancing. The dance floor was crowded for most of the night and many students spent their time moshing to popular songs such as “Starships” by Nicki Minaj and “Our Song” by Taylor Swift. Overall, the dance provided a stress-free atmosphere where the student body was able to unite and have fun.
To kick off Homecoming Week, Monday’s theme was “Come as You Are,” meaning wear pajamas or comfy clothes to school. With a great amount of participation from students in every grade level, the halls were filled with students and teachers dressed in theme. During lunch, students competed in a Kahoot organized by the AHA Student Council, winners receiving a candy prize of their choosing.
Tuesday’s theme for Homecoming was “Dress as Your Favorite Movie Character.” Although many students had amazing costumes, the teachers at AHA were undeniably dressed better. The teachers’ costumes ranged from Ms. Lahr dressed up as Ace Ventura to Mr. Van de Hinz dressed up in bright tie dye and neon green sweatbands as Ken from the new Barbie movie. The day’s activity during lunch was bingo, where students competed in multiple rounds to win different candy bars.
For the third day of Homecoming Week, the dress theme was “Jersey Day.” Many students supported a variety of sports teams, showing off their favorite teams and players. Despite the wide variety of jerseys seen, many students were seen representing Minnesotan teams, such as the Twins, the Wild, and the Vikings. Additionally, students involved in AHA athletics were able to show off their school spirit by wearing their own sports jersey to school. For the activity of the day, the sports-themed cartoon “PopStar” was shown for students to watch during lunch. In conclusion, Wednesday’s theme was a success with the students and faculty, allowing everyone to show pride in their favorite teams.
Thursday’s theme was “College Sweatshirt Day”, acquiring a large participation amongst all grades. Colleges such as the University of Minnesota, Wisconsin-Madison, St. Thomas, and Notre Dame appeared most frequently amongst the student body. Overall, the University of Minnesota reigned supreme as the most popular college sweater. Even with many colleges being especially popular, there was a wide variety of different, lesser-known colleges represented throughout the students and staff, such as University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Later in the day, there was a cup-stacking contest held at convocation between each grade level. Chosen students ran to their designated table to see who could build a cup tower the fastest. Overall, the freshman team of Grace Schletty ‘27 and Frederick Cline ‘27 won the contest between the grade levels, additionally beating the staff’s team, naming them the winners.
Spirit wear was sported by students and staff on Friday, getting the school ready for the Homecoming football game against SMB (a co-op football program between St. Paul Academy, Minnehaha Academy, The Blake School, and Hope Academy). Many students came to school dressed in self-designed AHA sweatpants. At the pep fest, some of the highlights were the fall sports video, “Dancing with the Stars,” and the student vs. faculty dodgeball match. Students who signed up at lunch were randomly drawn to play in the match. The students then beat the teachers in a quick two games, making them the champions. Friday evening, students packed the stands with their spirit wear to cheer on the football team as they defeated SMB. It was a day filled with lots of school spirit.