Mia Shields

Every October, students across all grade levels at Miami Palmetto Senior High get excited for Homecoming and the lively events that come with it. This year is no exception, with MPSH bringing back an old tradition. Planned by the senior class student council officers, this year’s homecoming and all the events that precede it are sure to be ones to remember.

The theme of this year’s homecoming, “At The Drive-In,” meaning all things homecoming will be viewed through the lens of classic movie history. Along with the dance itself, homecoming week will launch MPSH into Panther Prowl, Homecoming Spirit Week and the football game. This year, Palmetto’s car parade is also being brought back to life, an old tradition done every homecoming. All these events will be taking place the week of Oct. 2 around campus. 

“The official theme name is ‘At the Drive-in,’ and what we will basically be doing is exploring movies throughout the years,” senior and Class of 2024 Co-President Ruben Behar said. “We came up with ‘At the Drive-In’ to make sure there were movies every class could use. It was just a great theme where everyone could be included.” 

Along with picking a theme for the dance itself, those running and planning homecoming must think about all the other activities that come along with the dance, including Panther Prowl. 

“It’s taken a lot of time and effort to plan homecoming,” senior and Student Council Social Chair Kayla Ram said.

Panther Prowl has always been an event that brings the school together, while promoting a competitive class spirit. On Oct. 5 at 6:30 p.m in the school’s auditorium, classes will battle it out in a series of skits, lip-sync and dance battles to find out which class is superior to the rest. 

“For Panther Prowl, a lot of the skits will start off in older movies, and then as the skits go on it will go more modern and modern, then it will go into movies made today,” Behar said. 

Prowl can be exciting for all students involved, whether they are a part of the performance itself or in the audience.  

“That’s always the best part of homecoming: the competition between classes, that’s when the energy at school is the best,” Behar said. 

Behar’s passion for Prowl is not rare; the excitement and love for competition is a common factor for those involved. 

“I’m a prowl enthusiast. I’ve been in Prowl since the class of 2024 was allowed to do it,” senior and Student Council Special Events Chair Estefania Cerna said. “I’m really, really excited for prowl, and we’re looking forward to another big one this year.”

While prowl is a battle of the classes, it also serves as an event to raise school spirit and was initially brought to campus as a way to get students excited for the upcoming game.

On top of the excitement outside of the day associated with Prowl, a different theme every school day allows students to show off their spirit. The week ofOct. 2 and Oct. 6 will contain a different dress up day for students to participate in. The themes range from Bikers vs. Surfers to Pajama Day. 

The car parade will occur on Oct 4. at 6:30 p.m at Tropical Park.

“We’re gonna have one car for each class… to replace the hallway competition that we had. Then each performing group is going to have their own car too, Chatonettes, Cheer, Variations and Marching Band,” Cerna said. “We’re going to have a big parade route so that the people in Pinecrest can also go into their front yard and watch this really nice event.”

Following the car parade, MPSH’s football team will be facing off against Edison at 7 p.m.

The game is Barbie themed as well as spreading recognition for breast cancer awareness month, meaning a pink out. Students can purchase tickets for the game at gofan.co

Along with all the festivities there is also a behind the scenes aspect of planning and preparation that goes into the dance.

“Myself along with Estefania Cerna have been planning homecoming, making sure all the decorations and details are just how we want them to be,” Ram said.

Planning homecoming and its events is quite the task to complete for both Ram and Cerna,  as well as their team of students. 

“I really do have a great team in Student Council and Kayla Ram, who’s on board, has been a really big help with all this,” Cerna said. 

The key to success for this team is organization and communication.

“I’m most excited to see the outcome. I really want to see how everything turns out, how everything lays out together,” Ram said.

Finally, the Homecoming dance this year will be at the biggest venue MPSH has had yet.

“It’s gonna be a lot of people, it is going to be hectic, so you want to make sure you’re checking up on the Instagram; everything they ask, just make sure to bring it,” Cerna said. “We’re gonna have a lot of movie style foods at the event, and we’re gonna have a lot of fun decorations that you guys can take pictures in front of,” Cerna said.