There are many traditions during Yutan’s homecoming week, from dress up days to attending the dance to decorating the class floats. For the family of seventh grader Alec Wacker in particular, float decorating has a special place in their hearts.
The Wackers first started hosting float decorating six years ago when Alec’s older brother, graduate Derek Wacker, was an eighth grader.
“I was extremely excited for the float decorating because growing up I was always watching my brother’s friends build amazing floats over the five year span, so being able to host that was an honor for me. We have a lot of people in our grade who love to socialize with everyone, and the best thing was everybody wanted to help make the float the best as it could be,” Alec Wacker said.
Alec’s parents were on board with hosting because they saw firsthand what float decorating can do for a class to make them closer.
“I learned how fun [float decorating] is from [Derek’s] class and loved seeing the seventh grade be just as awesome,” Alec’s mom, Kara Wacker, said.
Even before having the float decorating for the seventh graders, they still knew each other very closely.
“It was pretty cool seeing that the class knew who had the relevant talents for a given project—they know who is artistic, who is strong, who doesn’t mind messy projects and who is creative. As the years go by, the class will get more independent, gathering supplies and using the tools. By the time they are seniors, they will hardly need any adult help,” Kara Wacker said.
For their float this year, the seventh graders started in Mrs. Heise’s room during Chieftain Time, where they did an online poll to vote for the theme.
“During our grade meeting to decide the theme of the float, everybody had ideas, which made it extremely hard to choose from due to the amount [of] amazing ideas there were. We shortened it down to hunt the tigers, disappear the tigers and grill the tigers. Hunt the tigers won by a lot. The process was so fun because we all got to experience taking on a challenge against the entire school,” Alec Wacker said.
Next, the class met at the Wackers’ house to construct their float, which included grass sides, a large tree, a teepee and large boulders.
“We had to paper mache [the big boulders]. It’s hard to get [the paper] to stay,” seventh grader Haiden Schake said. “And that took a long time.”
The final result was worth it, though.
“The float was really cool. The theme was ‘Hunt the Tigers’ and it looked like a realistic habitat. Griffin, Ella, and Hayden really showed off their acting skills and interacted with the parade audience,” Kara Wacker said.
For their efforts, the seventh graders placed first in the homecoming float contest.
“We’re seventh graders, so usually we don’t win a lot of things. It’s our first year, so you wouldn’t really expect that,” Schake said.
The Wackers are hoping this will be a tradition that continues throughout the next five years.
“We hope that Alec’s class also continues to enjoy and support each other throughout their entire high school career,” Kara Wacker said. “Working on the float as a common goal is like an annual check in with each other, knowing that each classmate belonged.”
