Golden Valley Shoots For the Stars with Their Homecoming event

The Cliff Hanger, one of the rides at the Homecoming Carnival, is one of the most popular among students attending, September 9th 2023 at Golden Valley High School.
The Cliff Hanger, one of the rides at the Homecoming Carnival, is one of the most popular among students attending, September 9th 2023 at Golden Valley High School.
Dylan Vo

Golden Valley Shoots For the Stars with Their Homecoming event

Golden Valley ASB hosted their first event of the year on Sept.9th from 6:30pm to 10pm. The theme for the event was Galaxy. At the carnival Dj, three rides, VIP lounge, a photo booth, and more could be found. This event was held in order to welcome students into the school and make them feel like they are equally a part of the campus community.

This space-lit event began at the gate in front of the 300 building. In an interview ASB President Dara Falodun, explains the event was “smooth”, because students had to fill out a liability form before they attended which made the process for the line shorter and easier.

Upon entering, there were a selection of rides like; the YoYo, Cliffhanger, and a slide. During the event when asked what students’ favorite ride was, about 75% of them agreed that the YoYo was the best. The YoYo was a swing ride that took students up and spun them around a few times. The event provided activities all students could participate in.

“People were never not busy, ” stated Falodun. If students arrived at homecoming early enough to enjoy all of the rides, there was a photo booth and caricature artists found near the counseling office. As the night drew on, these two stations ended up being the busiest.

The photo booth allowed students to capture fun memories with a photo card that each person was able to take home. Many preferred the photo booth because it allowed multiple people to be in the picture compared to the caricature.The caricature only allowed 2 students to be drawn at one time. With it being a drawing compared to a photo. Only one person could take the drawing home.

Along with all of the thrilling rides and activities, there was a new take on the carnival with the VIP room for only gold card members.

The goal with the VIP room was to “make gold card members feel like their gold card has a bigger purpose.” stated Jazmin Rodriguez, Golden Valley senior class president. The VIP section gave gold card members a chance to feel like their cards are being used more frequently.giving students the opportunity to relax, whether that was with friends playing games, or a place to get away from the music.

When the event was coming to an end, students decided to move to the dance floor.

Everyone had their opinions on the DJ– but when asked about music Rachel Arrieta, one of our ASB advisors, stated,“DJ’s often don’t take recommendations.” This did not stop the students from moving to the dance floor. Falodun states “There were alot of popular songs which I was really surprised to hear.”

As midnight drew near, the winners for homecoming court were announced.

The Cliff Hanger, one of the rides at the Homecoming Carnival, is one of the most popular among students attending, September 9th 2023 at Golden Valley High School. (Dylan Vo)

Jonathan Okereke ran for homecoming court along with attending the event. When asked about the process of running, Jonathan mentioned“Being a part of the parade was really fun, and it was a good experience to have.”.

Okereke also says “I would recommend running for court even if you feel like you won’t win. It is always a good experience to have.”

This year had a lot to offer, and it also left students with many questions. ASB is in charge of hosting events and always accounts for student feedback. Students were curious as to why there was only one food truck. Arrietta mentioned“Most food trucks have a non competition request that they are required to sign.” This means that the food truck owners do not like to feel like they are competing against each vendor that attends the event.

Rides were also a big part of this year’s carnival, and so students had questions about the rides chosen. Rodriguez stated, “My ASB team is given a list of ideas to pick from.” Sense students are interested in more rides Rodriguez and Falodun both stated “Having the event on the blacktop as well would be great.”.

This year’s carnival saw students’ expectations surpassed, along with the teachers being really surprised on how the event went.

It makes someone wonder– what excitement does ASB have in store for us this year?

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About the Contributors
Janai Holland
Janai Holland, Section Editor
Janai Holland, is currently a senior and a Section Editor on the Campus News Team for the Grizzly Gazette.  She is in two diffrent levels of theater. Theater two is children's theater which requires me to have a good personality and be very energetic and theater three is the main stage production, which is the play produced for the school. She is very passionate about storytelling, poetry, and music. She is a part of Golden valleys new clubs, Fables and Films. She is a current member of NSHSS. She is very excited to talk about the Golden Valley community in general, which may include details about new and upcoming clubs, our arts department, and give insight on some students and topics we as a community are unaware about. Writing about these topics will not only be compelling to write about but it will also captivate our audience and give them more information that is valuable to them. Being a student journalist allows her to gain a better understanding of where she goes everyday along with trying to give this same understanding if not a better one to the people in our community.
Dylan Vo
Dylan Vo, Photographer
Dylan Vo is the photographer for the Campus News Team of the Grizzly Gazette. He is currently a senior at Golden Valley High School and has been attending it since his freshman year. On top of his position in the Grizzly Gazette, he is also the Treasurer of both SkillsUSA and DFY in SCV, participates in clubs like Asian Student Union, CSF, and DEI, is a CTE Pathway Completer, and has plenty of hours and experience in community service. He also possesses a Youtube channel with over 1,000 subscribers that documents various topics within video game communities. Some of his interests include editing and posting videos, using Photoshop to create new images and designs, and watching TV shows on platforms like Disney Plus and Netflix. The main reason he joined the Grizzly Gazette was to enhance his journalism skills not only for his channel, but also for the greater good of the school through its newspaper. A couple of topics he covers here at the Grizzly Gazette are campus and online news since he believes students and staff should learn more about the activity occurring on both school grounds and the internet. To him, being a student journalist means not only being a part of something that can make a positive impact on the school, but also exposing writers to both new and old skills that can assist them throughout their lives.