Plenty of Jacksonville natives are returning home this weekend as Jacksonville High School celebrates a rather special homecoming.
Not only is it homecoming weekend for Jacksonville High School, but it’s also Jacksonville School District 117’s Sesquicentennial, or 150th anniversary.
The homecoming activities get kicked off tonight with the parade followed by the football game. Jacksonville Public School’s Foundation Executive Director Amy Albers joined our AM Conversation earlier this week to discuss everything that’s going on this weekend.
Albers talks about what to expect from this year’s homecoming parade, which starts this afternoon.
“The parade will start at 4, they want people to start lining up around 3, 3:30 if they could. This year it’s going to go back and around downtown. Last year they ended a little early, but this year we have a large parade, a large lineup this year, and they’re going to take it the full route this year down and around the square. Tonight we also have the alumni tent at the homecoming game, and it’ll open at 6,” says Albers.
While homecoming begins tonight, Albers says the event will continue with several special activities Saturday as well.
“Saturday morning at 9 a.m., we have the 5K run/walk for education, so we’ll be signing people up downtown starting at 8 o’clock Saturday morning. Then from 2 o’clock until 5 will be our open houses for the high school. We have all these reunions in town which will be great because they’re going to be able to go in the buildings too, but this is open to the community. Whether you went to the high school or not, if you just want to see what the buildings look like, we will show them off to you,” Albers explains.
These tours cover the JHS Bowl, the current high school, the central administration office as well as the old high school.
While homecoming marks a unique time for the district, there are also a number of activities scheduled for next month as well, particularly the celebration of Murrayville Elementary School’s 100th anniversary.
To hear more about the events for homecoming and the sesquicentennial, listen to our full interview with Albers online at WLDS/WEAI.com.