Making magic, the Class of 2027 converged at Student Council (StuCo) Junior Class Historian Jacob Kinnison’s front yard on Saturday, Sept. 13, to work on their Homecoming float. Drawing inspiration from the late 2010s, their float was inspired by 24K Magic by Bruno Mars.

“When designing our float, our main goal was [to] put as much gold as possible and create a casino or Las Vegas vibe,” StuCo Junior Class President Nancy Lu said.

The juniors draped their float with gold garlands and streamers to ensure that the float would shine brightly, encapsulating the dazzling nature of their chosen song.

“We picked this song because we thought it would be a fun and nostalgic song to play since it’s upbeat, and we thought it would be easy to decorate,” Lu said.

Though the float shone brightly, its true value came from the creation experience. Senior classes do not create class floats, making this the last float the officers would decorate for StuCo.

“My favorite part [of float decoration] was hanging out with other officers while brainstorming,” Lu said.

As streamers rustled in the wind and the final notes of Viva la Vida lingered, the Class of 2028 came together to transform their Homecoming float into a Coldplay concert. Volunteers gathered at Student Council (StuCo) Sophomore Class President Apple Ma’s driveway on Saturday, Sept. 13, and Sunday, Sept. 14, to bring their vision to life.

“[Homecoming and float-building] is really important because it’s a really great time to build community, spend time with your friends, and show school spirit,” volunteer Isabelle Martin ‘28 said. 

Over the course of nine hours, the group painted colorful butterflies and planets and attached stars and streamers to the float. In addition to the decorations, the class decided to incorporate a playful reference to one of Coldplay’s recent headlines, with Ma and StuCo Event Supporter Akshara Reddy ‘28 dressing up as the infamous affair caught at the concert. 

“We came up with the float theme by assessing not only popular artists, but what recent events had happened in pop culture,” Ma said. “Due to the humorous nature of Andy Byron’s affair, as well as popular songs by Coldplay, we chose an intersection of both.”

Despite working for six hours on Saturday in the blazing sun, due to the lack of volunteers, the class had to continue their preparations on Sunday. The volunteer team, composed mainly of StuCo members, rose to the challenge with preparation and teamwork.

“We had a major challenge of not having enough people,” Reddy said. “There was so much ground to cover, and we were a little short of supplies. We overcame [these challenges] by having a plan and helping each other out.”

As the snip of scissors and scratching of markers floated above the scene, the Class of 2029 converged on Sunday, Sept. 14, to create a float representing Double Life by Pharrell Williams from Despicable Me 4.

“We picked Double Life because we think it’s a super upbeat song,” StuCo Freshman Class Co-President Isaac Zhang said. “[The other class officers and I] really like the Despicable Me movies.”

The freshman float featured a primary color palette of orange and blue, with spots of yellow scattered around the float to represent the Minions. 

“We picked the colors yellow and blue because those are the theme colors for the minions, Zhang said. “We got streamers and made a banner that was Minions-themed.”

Channeling the lighthearted vibe of their song, the Class of 2029 included fun ways to decorate the float, eliciting laughter from the float-builders.

“My favorite part of float decorating was pumping up the balloons,” Zhang said. “Some of our balloons had bits of yellow and blue paper inside of them, and inflating them would make the papers inside spin. It was super cool to watch.”