Gallery • 29 Photos

By Margaret Mellott

At 6 a.m., seniors continue to decorate the halls for the blue bomb. The seniors began decorating the school at 5:30 a.m. as part of the annual Homecoming tradition.

Entrenching the hallways in a sea of blue and celebrating the beginning of their last year, seniors surprised a new generation of students through a Homecoming tradition known as the blue bomb.

According to senior Abbie Hughes, the senior class planned deliberately to ensure that this year’s blue bomb surpassed last year’s, hoping to impress students and staff.  

“We started a Facebook group page and we’ve been talking about it for around two weeks,” Hughes said. “We planned to go to Party City and the dollar store and all these places before the blue bomb.”

Students such as senior Sydney Humphrey arrived early at 5:30 a.m. in order to aid in decorating the school.

“Well, I have been here for almost an hour, six minutes short,” Humphrey said. “Most of my class did not sleep last night; we were getting too pumped for this activity.”

Joining together, seniors wrapped the school in a mess of wildly hanging streamers and shiny confetti. Senior Brian Fitzsimmons noted a real sense of pride as students worked with one another to create an amazing blue bomb.

“I think the atmosphere of this year’s blue bomb has been incredible, uncomparable to any years past,” Fitzsimmons said. “I think this is bringing together all of the seniors, making the class a whole.”

Leaving the school’s halls strung with countless streamers and ribbons, the seniors prepared to watch as students struggled to travel through.

“The main hallway is a death trap,” Humphrey said. “It’s a test to see who will survive the maze.”

For freshman Shelby Butler, navigating and entering the school proved to be difficult.

“I just saw the parking lot which seemed normal. Then you walk to the door and you can’t get it open because there’s stuff wrapped around,” Butler said. “You’re just like, ‘What the heck?’”

Some, such as communication arts teacher Mike Strack found the senior’s decorations to be annoying and obnoxious.

“This is ridiculous,” Strack said.

However, students such as freshman Anne Myers mostly found the blue bomb to be enjoyable, especially when they witnessed the seniors gather at the Jaguar statue in the main hallway in a mob of spirit and dance.  

“I walked in and everyone was dancing like they did at the football game,” Myers said. “It was really loud, there was screaming and it sounded like fun.”

Next year’s seniors, including junior Jasmine Cousins, were taken back by the senior’s blue bomb as they entered the building.

“The seniors did a wonderful job. It’s far better than last year,” Cousins said. “It’s something we need to top next year.”

Correction: An earlier version of this post misspelled the name of someone in a photograph. The correct spelling is Howe, not Howell.