Shaping the lives of young adults since 1894, Harrisburg High School has been educating its students so that they can leave high school as better people in society. One way that the Harrisburg School District recognizes exceptional individuals in each graduating class is by allowing students that are in the graduating senior class to have the chance to represent the school as the Homecoming King and Queen. Voted on by the 10-12th grade high school student body, the Homecoming court at Harrisburg can be complimented for their personal qualities that make the student body proud to recognize them as fellow Harrisburg Tigers. Some of these attributes include their kindness and inclusivity towards fellow students, their leadership skills, and their ability to use skills like these to grow into good citizens in the real world outside of HHS.
Thankfully, the district was still able to continue voting for homecoming court, a universally classic homecoming tradition; the Homecoming Queen for the graduating class of 2021 was Sydney Altenburg and the Homecoming King was Noah Green. When asked what it meant to him to have been chosen, Noah responded, “It was such an incredible honor and privilege to be chosen as the representative of Harrisburg High School. This is something that I will never forget. It certainly has been different this year with COVID. While it was a little strange, all royalty members certainly had fun and didn’t let this change deter us from having a great homecoming!”
As it turns out, the Homecoming tradition runs in Noah’s family. According to Noah, “After being selected as a member of the royal court, I learned that my paternal grandmother, Anita Egge, was Homecoming Queen in 1954, and believe it or not for Harrisburg High School. Being selected Homecoming King made this moment more meaningful for me and my family.”
In the midst of times that are trying, it can be comforting to see old traditions, such as honoring Homecoming court members, carried out to give those students their special memories to have for the rest of their lives. If there is only one unshakeable truth about this year’s circumstances, it is that the future children and grandchildren of the class of 2021 will be hearing some interesting stories of their high school careers in the midst of a pandemic.