Homecoming, but not at home
The venue was different, but the spirit was the same as Burbank and Burroughs high schools saluted their 2011 homecoming courts during the most anticipated football game of the year Friday evening.
Burbank High School’s homecoming king and queen were Austin Pope and Nisa Marckese. The other homecoming court members were Daniel Starkand, Andrea Reyes, Alex Voskanian, Tina Mirzakhanian, Killian Huntley, Annie Rahman, Danny Murphy, Ranah Elzaiat, Alec Agana and Marvette Hardnett.
Burroughs High School’s homecoming king and queen were Adam Velasco and Tayler Nunez. Other court members included Noelle Ruiz, Sean Farmer, Kayla Reyes, Jon Marino, Alyssa Garcia, Corey McCoy, Natasha Piniero and Dakota Perez.
“I am just excited about seeing everyone and getting pumped up for the game,” Burroughs’ Kayla Reyes said. “It is senior year, so everyone is excited.”
The Burbank-Burroughs homecoming game traditionally takes place on Memorial Field at Burroughs High School, but with the stadium under construction through the spring, the contest was moved to Arcadia High.
School officials said that given the distance to the alternative site, they anticipated a dip in attendance, but added that they worked hard to ensure that all students who wanted to attend could do so. Both Burbank and Burroughs high schools chartered buses from their respective campuses to the game.
“The kids are getting a lot of privileges along with those fan buses,” said Jamie Gibbs, associated student body advisor at Burroughs High School. “They are getting VIP seating at the game, admission to the game, a spirit T-shirt.”
Officials did make some tweaks to the presentation of the court members — they walked onto the field amid the marching band formations, rather than being driven in convertibles and on fire trucks.
“Since we couldn’t do that, we were trying to think of a fun and exciting new tradition that we would be able to use at Arcadia, and us here next year,” said Gibbs, noting that even when the game returns to Memorial Field next year, the use of motor vehicles will be eliminated to protect the refurbished facility.
Some seniors were disappointed that they did not get to celebrate their final homecoming game at Memorial Field, but said they were largely satisfied with the alternative.