Game on! WVHS students communicate and collaborate to create homecoming floats

The Warwick Valley Central School District’s Portrait of a Graduate is a representation of the district’s priority teaching and learning goals for preparing graduates who are collaborators, communicators, creators and innovators, ethical and global citizens, resilient individuals, problem-solvers, and life-long learners. It is an aspirational framework that informs everything from the district’s curriculum to its clubs, and efforts to instill and expand its seven key traits in Warwick Valley students can be seen everywhere and in everything we do.

See a gallery of images from the first night of float building below this story!

Students from all four WVHS classes file into the WVCSD Transportation Garage on Tuesday night to begin building their WV Homecoming 2024 floats!

On Tuesday night, communication, collaboration, and creativity were on full display in the WVCSD Transportation Garage. Excited chatter and the sounds of power tools and hammers echoed through the garage, where WVHS students from all four classes were hard at work (and play) building their themed class floats for this weekend’s annual homecoming parade. This year’s theme is “Games,” so each class is building a float inspired by a classic board game.

• Freshmen: Guess Who?
• Sophomores: Monopoly
• Juniors: Clue
• Seniors: Candyland

The students’ creativity is challenged, as they must keep in mind the general aesthetic of their float and how it represents their game. On Saturday, each class’s float will be judged on criteria including creativity, beauty, presentation, banners, movement, costumes, theme relevance, and “wow” factor!

Float building is one of the many popular Warwick Valley traditions centered around homecoming and attracts a diverse group of students with a wide array of talents, each of whom comes prepared to contribute in any way they can. WVHS Spanish teacher Meghan Murphy is the junior class advisor, and spent Tuesday night with the students, offering her support and advice.

“A lot of the students come back every year, and it’s amazing to watch them grow throughout the process and gain new skills,” Ms. Murphy said. “Every year they come back with some new creative idea, and it’s nice to see them apply what they’ve learned from previous years.”

As Creators, the students must build and paint structures, fasten them to a flatbed trailer, decorate those trailers, create complementary banners, and attach additional decorative elements. With the teamwork that was on display already on night #1, they had clearly come in ready to be Collaborators. And to say that there was plenty of Communication going on would be an understatement.

See a gallery of images from the first night of float building below this story!

In fact, homecoming float building has always been a wonderful way for Warwick Valley students to connect and interact with peers inside and outside of their immediate friend circles.

“Homecoming is really big here, so it’s good way for everyone to get involved,” said Stella Serafin, WVHS freshman. Stella and her friend Noelle Dempsey, a new student to the district, decided to get involved together.

“Since this is my first year here, I thought this would be a good way to get to know people,” Noelle said.

Even upperclassmen agree, getting together in the spirit of friendly competition and creativity is a great way to get to know people, even if you’ve been a Wildcat for a while.

“I feel like I met so many new people, even when I participated last year,” said Brenna Velasco, who is a senior.

Around the garage, Wildcat spirit was high, and so were the goals and hopes of each build team. With just two more evenings of painting, hammering, and good times to go, they are kicking their collabs into high gear to get their rolling creations ready for Saturday’s pomp and circumstance.

“We’re here from six to nine, Monday through Thursday,” said Zoey Crane, a senior. “It’s a lot to prepare but it’s fun!”

To see what their creations, be sure to stake your sidewalk claim along Warwick’s beautiful Main Street on Saturday, before the parade kicks off at 12:00 pm. Be part of a grand Warwick tradition that these creators, collaborators, and communicators have embraced!

“Being here for the float building really brings homecoming together,” said Zoey.