HOMECOMING 101 PART 1

I guess most of us have attended some Alumni Homecoming of our own schools already. Maybe your class has become Host Class, Junior Hosts, Jubilarians, etc. I myself have attended Alumni Homecomings at my high school (Holy Spirit Academy of Laoag) and for some reasons; I was also able to attend the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Homecomings some years back. I guess I got lucky.

For the past homecomings that I have attended, there were close to perfect ones, ho-hum ones, and What-the-hell-am-I-doing-here ones. The best Alumni Homecoming that I was able to attend was that of PMA. There are the parades of graduates grouped by classes from the oldest to the youngest graduates. The oldest graduate and the youngest graduate are sat side by side at the stage and watch the presentations/parade. What makes it exciting is the unity that they all have. There were banners welcoming the graduates as far as Tarlac especially in Baguio.

So let me go back to  how homecomings are prepared.

HOST CLASS

This is the class who will host the homecoming that year. Most often than not, they are the SILVER Jubilarians, the ones who celebrates their 25th year as graduates of their school. They are the ones who  will take charge of everything, from the mass (for Catholic Schools), motorcades, dinners, programs and whatchamallits.

WHAT SHOULD HOST CLASS DO TO PREPARE?

* DO NOT HOST A HOMECOMING UNPREPARED!!!!

1. ATTEND REUNIONS– Host Class should at least attend 2 homecomings for them to know what to expect and prepare. To give them ideas of what they should do when their time to host will come. My class attended 5 reunions before us.
2. OFFICERS– A class should at least have a set of officers.
   1. President
   2. Vice President
   3. Secretary
   4. Treasurer
   5. Committee Chairmen

• Food
• Lights and sounds
• Giveaways
• Motorcade
• Invitations
• Guests
• Logistics
• Shirts
• Program

3. CLASS FUND– This is the most important if not one of the most important part of hosting a homecoming. Do not expect the school to provide you funds for the homecoming UNLESS your school is so rich that it will fund the homecoming. But first how should you raise funds. Homecoming is the most difficult reason for donations especially if you attended a private school, unless you are so famous that any company/ group of people would donate to you without resservations, then you can skip this part of this article. You can not just ask someone to donate for your school especially those who did not  attend it. But for those who are worried then read on
   1. CLASSMATES– you need to contact every classmate of yours especially those who are better off than most of you. These classmates are kinda “mapagbigay” basta for the class. Gather all the classmates that you know who are still in the area where you graduated. A half of my class is already residing abroad. We were 90 plus (3 sections). And one very important tip DO NOT BE CHOOSY! Classmates are classmates. You spent 11 years together. Some you spent 4 years with. Your last names are all your class year, eg. Rosary-Anne O. Pagatpatan HSAL 1986, Melanie B. Sy HSAL 1986 etc. ,etc., etc. In my class, we all came from all walks of life but no one is above anyone. We have Doctors, Teachers, Lawyers, Nurses, Architects, Engineers, and even the City Mayor is our classmate but they do not throw their weights around. Hell, our President is not even famous in high school. She just happens to be the most passionate about her class being together with her motto: One Class, One Family.
   2. CLASS DUES– Every classmate MUST pay her monthly class due. In our class, we collected P100/classmate in 2000. Then raised our monthly dues to P150 them P200. The classmates abroad paid their dues in $$$$ and the richer classmates were made to pay their past, present dues.
   3. FUND RAISING PROJECTS- We had Ukay-Ukay, we had carrolings every year. All proceeds went to the class fund.
   4. DO NOT TOUCH THE CLASS FUND KAHIT MAGUTOM NA LAHAT ANG CLASSDMATES KAKA PRACTICE NG SAYAW.
   5. POT LUCK– All parties/gatherings/inuman etc will all be pot luck. Each classmate who will attend the event will bring food and beverage. Have the affair in one of your classmates’house, that way you do not touch the class fund. KAHIT ikulong pa nila classmate mo, do not touch the class fund.