Filling the school with spirit and anticipation, Redwood’s stairwell decorating competition for Homecoming has been a tradition for 12 years. Laughter and creativity overflow the hallways as students gather at school the Sunday before Homecoming week. Each grade decorates a stairwell in the main building according to the class theme chosen by Leadership. This year, the theme is “cities,” designating New York for the seniors, Miami for the juniors, Las Vegas for the sophomores and Dallas for the freshmen. However, these vibrant decorations weren’t always in the stairwells — classes originally decorated the first-floor hallways in the main building.
On the Thursday of Homecoming week, running from 6 to 10 p.m., classes would come to decorate their hallway. The goal of this tradition was to make the decorative spirit the first thing students would see as they arrived at school the following day before Homecoming.
David Plescia, the advisor for leadership for the past 25 years, remembers students wanting to have the building decorated for the entire week, not just on Friday.
“Talking to the kids, they said, ‘We put in so much work to do this, and it’s only up for one day — let’s do it for the week.’ So, [we] decided it’d be best to set it up on Sunday, so it could be enjoyed all week,” Plescia said.
Plescia elaborates on how the decorating gets students excited for the upcoming week and keeps them informed on the Homecoming festivities.
“[The decorated main building] really sets the tone for the week when students come on campus on Monday. This way, if you didn’t know, didn’t open an email, or don’t follow Instagram, you would know when you came on campus [that it was Homecoming week],” Plescia said.
Decorating the hallways continued for about six more years until staff and students came up with an even better idea.
“[Eventually] instead of doing the hallways, we said, ‘I bet you we could do a better job if we did the stairwells.’ So, we changed it to [decorating the] stairwells on Sunday [and] I think it’s been that way for about 12 years,” Plescia said.
Simply walking up or down a stairwell to get to class encourages school spirit for Homecoming week. Freshman Berkeley Smith, a leadership student, expresses the importance of Homecoming spirit for the Redwood community.
“Homecoming spirit, specifically spirit days and decorating the staircase, is really important for Redwood because it makes [homecoming week feel] more real — not just something you see online. It allows everyone to be [involved], bringing the [school] community together,” Smith said.
Seeing the staircases inspires students to partake in Homecoming festivities. In fact, junior Saki Beattie feels this encouragement and a sense of community when the school is decorated.
“The decorated stairwells made me feel so much more spirited, happy and included in the community. Even though I might not have taken part in decorating them, it was a lot of fun to see them, and next year, I’m 100 percent gonna come and help with decorations because seeing it, it just looks like so much fun,” Beattie said.
With the spirit encouraged by the Homecoming stairwells, it is no wonder that stairwell decorating has been a tradition for so many years.
“[The decorations help] distinguish the normal weeks from homecoming week. It makes it so much more special. The first few weeks [of school], especially for upperclassmen, are stressful, and seeing [the decorations] is just something new [to see] in the stairways,” Beattie said. “I think if we took away the tradition, [we] would be taking the fun out of Homecoming week.”
Immense excitement for Homecoming was shown during the Homecoming rally, which took place on Oct. 2nd. Each class performed a student-led skit and presented their class flag, the Homecoming court nominees were announced and the winner of the Homecoming stairwell decorating competition was declared. These three events were judged by a panel of teachers who decided that the class of 2025 won the stairwell competition.
Overall, the decorated stairwells set the stage for vibrant spirit days and the Homecoming dance. This long-lasting tradition facilitates spirit in students, encouraging them to find an appreciation for school in a less academically routine manner.
