This week marks the celebration of homecoming in the Houston School District. Homecoming is a uniquely American invention, created in the early part of the 20th century to rally support and foster a sense of school pride. The exact origin of the coming home tradition is not entirely clear. Missouri, Illinois and Baylor universities all lay claim to origin of the celebration. You can guess which side of that argument I come down on.
Regardless of where the celebration came from, there has always been one essential element to homecoming: A football game. This year, we have the pleasure of hosting the Cabool Bulldogs for homecoming. Our own Houston Tigers are an emerging force in the conference, having played competitively in every game this season, and having just secured their first win of the season last Friday evening. This Texas County rivalry is sure to be a crowd pleaser. Be sure to be in attendance this Friday evening to support our young men in their quest for a homecoming victory!
Another key component to a successful homecoming celebration is of course the participation of the alumni. In Houston, we are blessed to have an active and enthusiastic alumni association. I am excited to bring the alumni back to campus this year, if for no other reason than to showcase the improvements and repairs we have made to campus.
If you have not yet taken the time to visit our beautiful campus this year, please take the time to do so during the homecoming festivities this week. We have, in cooperation with the City of Houston, replaced sidewalks on the middle and high school campuses. Broken or cracked windows have been replaced wherever they were found. New scoreboards have been installed at the football field and in the middle and high school gymnasiums. New flag poles and new flags have been put in place to ensure we show the proper deference and respect to our county, to our veterans and to those men and women currently serving our country. We will, very shortly, add a school flag to those proudly flying in front of our schools. The list of improvements and additions goes on and on. It comes down to one simple fact: We take pride in our campus, our schools and our students. Our pride shows in everything we do.
We are Houston, and we are proud of it! Go Tigers! Go Big Red! GO HOUSTON!