Enthusiastic students make some homecoming connections at Frazzie High School in Minnesota

This time of year is synonymous with the word "homecoming" for many high school and college students throughout the country. It's a time for supporting the school's football or basketball teams, and showing off lots of school pride and spirit.

Minnesota's Frazzie High School is an example of a school that takes homecoming to heart. During the late-September homecoming week, boys dress up like cheerleaders to support football-playing girls at the "Powder Puff" football game. There's a variety show, a dance, and sports and entertainment scheduled throughout the week.

Still, in many parts of the country, "homecoming" is a foreign word. Part of the difference is regional—not everyone cares so much about football, after all. It's in places like the Midwest and Texas that the concept really takes hold.

There are other reasons, too. Administrators in financially-struggling districts sometimes don't feel justified devoting time or money to events without a clear connection to the academic bottom line. Some schools might not have a sports team to center the event on.

However, some educational leaders are throwing their support behind efforts to build school spirit because they say that these kinds of activities hold a lot of emotional and educational power—especially in schools where students don't have many ways to get involved. The idea is that when students help create a sense of community through school spirit activities, they develop a sense of connectedness and appreciate their academic surroundings much more.

"Homecoming is evidence that [a school's] campus prides itself on supporting school involvement," said Wendell Ramsey and Will Nunez, co-managers of a New York-based homecoming program, in a recent email to Connect for Kids. They work for the Leadership Program, Inc., an educational consulting firm. "It also creates enthusiasm, opportunity and a venue for non-athletes to get involved and support their school."

Research on School Connectedness
Homecoming is getting a boost from recent studies pointing to the importance, especially in high school, of something called "school connectedness," a student's feeling of being part of a caring school community.

Research indicates that 40 to 60 percent of all high school students do not feel connected to school. These percentages, which hold true for rural, urban and suburban students, do not include the estimated 500,000 teens who drop out of high school each year (which translates to more than 1,300 kids a day). Connected students—regardless of their racial, ethnic or income groups—tend to have higher motivation, participate in their classes more and are absent far less.

Students who feel connected are also less likely to be disruptive in school, commit school violence, use tobacco and other drugs, or be sexually active.

More information about the Wingspread Group and its goals can be found on the Johns Hopkins University Web site.

Recently, a group of 20 education and public health leaders, including federal government policymakers, have called on the nation's schools to strengthen their connections with students. The Wingspread Group wants schools to ensure that every student feels close to at least one supportive adult at school and to engage students in decision-making. They also think supportive learning environments and physical and emotional safety must be provided to turn the tide.

The group believes that if these recommendations were followed at all schools, overall academic performance and school completion rates would increase, and school violence and absenteeism would decrease.

What Kids Say
A survey released in 2003 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Maternal and Child Health Bureau as part of their "U.S. Teens in Our World" report asked 17,000 adolescent students how they feel about their schools. Researchers compared U.S. teen opinions with those of their peers in 29 other nations.

The full "U.S. Teens in Our World" study is available online.

The study found that 19 percent of American girls and 17 percent of boys, "like school a lot." The students' response choices were: "like it a lot," "like it a little," "don't like it very much," or "don't like it at all." Researchers say that the proportion saying that they don't "like it a lot" means that about 80 percent of U.S. students don't enjoy school.

One big factor: 82 percent of U.S. girls and 79 percent of boys said that they had no input in the decision-making processes of their schools. School connectedness researchers say that when students don't feel like they have any say about their school environment, they tend to do much worse academically.

Easy Idea, Big Results
While none of the recent research zeroes in on specific spirit-building activities like homecoming, such events do offer many avenues for involving non-athletic students in positive ways.

Through their work with the Leadership Program over the past few years, Ramsey and Nunez have tried to help teachers and administrators get kids connected. They manage the implementation of youth development programs at the Grand Street high school campus in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. In the process, they have helped bring the idea of homecoming to over three thousand students who had no conception of this kind of event just a short time ago.

Ramsey and Nunez said that many of the schools they work with are struggling, especially in terms of student success rates. "[I]n many cases, students may not feel very proud to go to that school from the beginning," they said. "We try to work with the administration to change that perception—to create pride and therefore higher expectations."

Both men grew up in New York, Nunez in the Bronx and Ramsey in Harlem. "Personally, we never experienced a homecoming in high school," they said. "Not up until attending college did we become familiar with the event and its significance. We then understood its purpose and value."

Pedro Noguera, a professor in the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University, studies the ways schools are influenced by social and economic conditions. He notes that spirit events like homecoming greatly affect how students feel about their campus. He says that students who have an opportunity to participate in these kinds of activities often perform much better academically.

"The more we can make schools a pleasant place, the better it is for students," says Noguera. "This is not a frivolous matter."

That's why, in schools where Ramsey and Nunez work full-time, they often take a look at whether or not homecoming activities are on the agenda. "Most of the time, there is not a current tradition of homecomings, so we start from the ground up and see what we can accomplish," they said.

Some questions that Leadership Program leaders explore before striving for a full-fledged homecoming event are:

• Is there a football or basketball team?
• Is there a school band that can play?
• Is there a step team and cheerleaders?

Their biggest focus is, "How can we get the most kids involved in creating something, where they can see their talents come to life for the school as a whole?"

They said that putting on a homecoming event doesn't have to cost a lot, especially if students are relied on to make the vision a reality. In the past, they helped students develop a step team to perform during the homecoming football game and at halftime. They rented a wolf mascot costume and two students volunteered to wear it during the game. Students also operated concession stands that sold refreshments and hotdogs, and they got involved with decorating for the big homecoming after-party and lined up the music and entertainment for the school dance.

Christine Courtney, Director of Programming with the Leadership Program, also notes that school connectedness doesn't have to be centered on sports. Her team has worked on programs with students involving recycling campaigns, theatrical productions, charity events and spirit days.

This Year
Currently, the Leadership Program is working with more teachers and principals to make homecoming happen again for students at the Grand Street campus. The big day is scheduled for October 29. At least three schools are scheduled to be involved this year.

They plan activities that will include a pep rally, a football game with half-time show and an after-party. If past experience is any indication, this year's event will have an effect on the emotional feelings of students to their schools.

"Students who were involved [in past homecomings] hold it in high regard as one of their best high school experiences," said Ramsey and Nunez.

DeShawn Wiggins, 16, a junior at the School for Legal Studies (which is part of the Grand Street campus) helped run errands and get supplies ready for his high school's first-ever homecoming two years ago. This year, he's stepping it up a notch: he'll be performing in the percussion ensemble, playing drums for the first time. He's still getting used to working with drumsticks, but he's pretty confident: "It's all about rhythm," he explains. "And getting to know new people."

Leadership Program officials say that parents are increasingly getting involved as well. Since the first homecoming events in the New York schools, parent associations in the region have had an increase in parental involvement and support.

Learn more about the Leadership Program online.

"Parents are recognizing the school as a resource where opportunity, support and quality programs exist," they said. "They see the school as a valuable entity in the community and are more willing to lend their support."

Beyond Homecoming
There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Noguera says that schools that focus on social activities at the expense of educational programs are making a mistake. "There has to be a balance," he says. If that balance is there, he says that students reap even more benefits from spirit activities.

Many educational leaders also point out that homecoming is just one of many aspects of helping students get connected with their schools. Access to after-school programs and even small changes, like letting students study in student lounge space during lunch, can have positive effects on school culture, according to researchers.

Noguera says that teachers and administrators should strive to get their students' input in order to ensure that spirit events are doing what they're supposed to do. He says it helps teens understand that the spirit garnered from events like homecoming can have a big effect on their success in life. "These are intangible feelings we're talking about," he notes. "But they can make a big difference in many, many schools."

Rob Capriccioso is a former staff writer for Connect for Kids.