With the Northport Public School homecoming parade set for Saturday morning fast approaching, people can expect to see decorated floats designed not only by the high schoolers, but also from the middle and elementary school kids.
The district’s Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) coordinated the middle and elementary school float effort to bring together more of the school community and its youth during a festive time of the year.
“That was one of the goals that the PTO set last year — We wanted to see if we could increase the homecoming parade and kind of add to it and bring more school spirit… and fun throughout the town,” said Northport PTO member Laura Cavendish. “The kids really enjoy it (the parade), and we’re hoping to get a bunch of people out to see and kind of build up the excitement for them.”
Northport Social Studies Teacher and student government mentor Jacob Fryer said he’s excited about increasing the participation of middle and elementary school students in the parade, adding that it’s been a goal since 2023 to get more youth from lower grade levels involved in the homecoming festivities.
“This year, with the help of the PTO, we will have two floats representing the middle and elementary schools,” Fryer said. “For the homecoming ceremony, there will be a new element that has been influenced by the elementary school. The crowns for the ceremony will be decorated by an upper elementary class. We are looking at other ways to increase the participation for these grade levels in the future.”
After passing around several ideas, the student government settled on the theme of “board games” for parade floats as it was a topic never used before. Each class chose a different board game to base their float on following a meeting with their peers and advisors. The seniors decided on Clue and the juniors went with Chess, while the sophomores will design their float based on Fortnite Monopoly, and the freshman class chose regular Monopoly. The middle school’s float is based on the game Operation, and the elementary is putting together a Candyland themed design. School judges will be present at the day of the parade to determine and select who has the best floats in the lineup.
Elementary students have always participated in the parade by riding decorated bikes, but allowing them to come up with and create a float will make for an added layer of fun and involvement with homecoming season. In addition, many of the student’s parents participate and help in one way or another, making it all the more inclusive to the broader community.
The middle and elementary school both started working on their floats last weekend. With the weather being warm and holding up, the school parking lot was utilized by the middle schoolers to assemble their Operation-themed float, while the elementary group worked on theirs off campus at one of the PTO member’s barn. Cavendish said the elementary group in particular has been utilizing miscellaneous materials for their Candyland float and getting creative by turning things like pool noodles into candy shapes, fashioning old PVC pipes with balloons on top for lollipops, and painting flower pots with glitter to resemble gumdrops.
This week, kids will also be working on floats after school to ensure everything is set and ready to go by Saturday, where their floats will be towed in the parade via trailers.
“We have quite a bit of parents helping which is really fun, and it’s allowing us to come together and be a part of homecoming as well,” Cavendish said. “It’s really exciting to see all of the kids coming together outside of school with their parents, too, and continuing to grow and build our community so that it’s not just while they’re at school.”
The parade will start at 9:45 a.m. at the school on Saturday and will go through the downtown area. Onlookers can view the parade as it makes its way via its downtown route, with people usually lining up and watching from along streets like Waukazoo, Nagonaba, and Mill. The parade will end at the soccer field in Northport where the homecoming court will be announced before the boys varsity soccer game against Kingsley at 11 a.m.
