You might have noticed the leaves around you on your walk to school are turning vibrant colors and the wind has begun to pick up. Maybe you noticed that it’s been gradually getting cloudy again here in our state. This can only mean one thing: It’s fall y’all! As we settle into our school year, the arrival of this season brings many opportunities for fun. Some students believe that fall is a season of shutting yourself away in your room and burying yourself in the increase of semester homework while waiting for holiday break, but there are many things coming up both in and out of school that might change their minds.

As the month of October progresses a very exciting event draws closer: the Homecoming dance on the 20th. Whether you’re going with someone, going with a group of friends, or going solo, it’s a good idea to plan out your night. The first thing you can do is set up a carpool for drop off and pick up so no one gets stuck waiting or takes too long to get ready. Another popular thing that most friend groups do is go to a restaurant before the dance. A good thing to keep in mind to make sure your night goes smoothly is that you might need to reserve a table a couple weeks in advance because popular restaurants close to the high school will be very busy on homecoming night. Other preparation that you might need to keep in mind besides reservations is that if you’re taking someone from another school with you they need to fill out a guest form. These forms can be found in the main office and must be turned in before the dance.    

The Homecoming parade happens around the same time that the dance does, the two events go hand and hand. There are floats for each club at the school as well as floats for the community. Students can get involved in the building the floats if they belong to a school club or if they talk to members of the USB. Floats are built outside of school and interested students should talk to their class president about getting involved. The parade starts on Main street on the 19th by the district office at 4:00 and usually ends around 5:30. The USB also has many other activities planned, like a pep rally on the 18th and the opening of the fall musical on the 8th of November. The play runs for two weekends, from the 8th of November to the 10th, then again from the 15th to the 17th.   

Besides the homecoming events, there are many other activities that fall brings outside of school. The most popular pastime during fall is visiting your nearest pumpkin patch. Fall customers are very important for the financial success of local farms, so they put in a lot of effort to make your visit entertaining. Challenging corn mazes and tractor rides are only a few examples of fun activities that students can do at pumpkin patches. If farms aren’t your thing, there are still ways to appreciate the season. The changing color of leaves makes wonderful photo backgrounds, so you could get together with your friends and work on your photography skills. Fall is also a very popular season for students to get their senior photos taken. Any way you look at it, there are many ways to enjoy fall, both in and out of school.