Homecoming spirit week kicked off on Monday, 10/6, with the juniors, dressed in their finest tropical apparel, leading the morning rally — quickly invaded by the seniors in their military garb — and debuting their SpongeBob Bench setup. At lunch, the eleven seniors voted to be part of this year’s Homecoming Court were announced. Each senior walked down a red carpet in the big gym after a superlative was displayed on the TVs pertaining to them. The eleven seniors that became Homecoming Court were Yadhunandhan Karumbayiram (12), Tommy Chang (12), Svanik Singh (12), Samuel Abram (12), Samarth Gupta (12), Samantha Del Rosario (12), Rithwik Gupta (12), Preethi Robbi (12), Jason Ngo (12), Michelle Nguyen (12), and Alyson Tan (12).
On Tuesday, the freshmen Toy Story Bench setup and morning rally commenced. Again, the seniors invaded, hobbling into the courtyard dressed as senior citizens. During lunch, Irvington students had the opportunity to watch their peers flaunt their moves during the class lip sync battle. The freshmen performance, featuring the explosive “Bang Bang” by Ariana Grande and classic “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira, set a high standard, with energetic choreography that pumped the crowd. The sophomores followed suit, lip-syncing to “SOS” by Rihanna and “Dangerous Woman” by Ariana Grande and keeping the crowd hyped for the juniors, who, in their performance to the songs “Gnarly” by Katseye and “Breaking Dishes” by Rihanna, had a combination of skirts and dancing that elicited thunderous claps and cheers from the audience. Finally, the seniors’ long awaited performance began with “Thank U Next” by Ariana Grande, then integrated a mid-performance costume change and transitioned to “Crazy In Love” by Beyonce — the contagious, high-energy mood of the performance was only boosted by the homecoming proposal that took place at the end.
Their biker spirit day gave seniors the perfect opportunity to ride into the courtyard during Wednesday morning’s sophomore “Cars” Bench setup and morning rally. Wednesday also featured a remote trivia competition, in which students could answer Irvington trivia through the 5-star Students app for a chance to win spirit points.
On Thursday, the class tee spirit day transformed the Irvington campus into a sea of blue, red, pink, and black as spirited students donned their class colors. At 8 AM, the class of 2026 displayed their “Snoopy” themed Bench setup in the courtyard and began their morning rally. The freshman, sophomores, and juniors “crashed” their morning, engaging all the grades in friendly competition over spirit and pride.
At lunch, the long-awaited Class Dance Battle commenced in the big gym. Each grade’s Class Council had been practicing their 4-5 minute long performances for the last two months. Each performance involved a mix — multiple songs were put together so that different songs could feature different groups of dancers from each grade level. The freshmen kicked the performances off, performing dances to songs like “Into You” by Ariana Grande and “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls. The sophomores followed full of energy, performing many big group performances, showing off their synchronized moves. The juniors went next, bringing high-level choreography and energetic performances. Anya Pal (11), one of the junior class dance managers, noted that they “made the choreography harder this year, but [the dancers] still managed to pull it off.” Finally, the seniors concluded the battle, dancing to songs like “Rock That Body x No Pole”, “No Hands”, and “Over x Marjaani”. The seniors’ performance incorporated diverse cultures as well: it featured a performance to prominent K-Pop songs and a Bollywood performance where all the dancers wore traditional Indian lehenga skirts.
Nandini Bhatter (12), one of the three senior class officers, gave insight into the planning process involved in Bench, Lip Sync, and Class Dance. “Planning all three of these events took a lot of time and coordination. For Class Dance–shout out to our dance committee who helped with most of this–we chose multiple songs, organized choreographers, made practice schedules, and split dancers into groups. Lip Sync was a smaller group, but still required planning choreography, arranging costumes, and holding frequent practices. Bench was the most hands on, since our bench committee had to come up with a vision, design props, and secure a place to build everything together.” Bhatter, who has been class officer for the Class of 2026 every year of high school, also shared her sentiments over her final Homecoming Week. “Homecoming Week as seniors is so much more special because involvement tends to double, and there is a visible shift in participation. Everyone comes together and there is so much class unity. I also feel that everyone really lets loose and enjoys to their fullest abilities because it is the last time that we will ever be doing this, which makes it bittersweet.”
In the evening, Irvington students attended the Homecoming Football Game, a home game played at TAK Fudenna Memorial Stadium against Washington. The theme was Blackout, and the event featured performances by Irvington’s Marching Band and Cheer team. Additionally, the ten seniors crowned for Homecoming Court on Monday were walked out by their loved ones onto the track surrounding the field. The Homecoming Top 4 were revealed, with the winners being Michelle Nguyen, Samantha Del Rosario, Samarth Gupta, and Yadhunandhan Karumbayiram. The Viking football team emerged victorious, with a final score of 21-16.
The final day of homecoming week, Blue Crew Friday, provided a final opportunity for students to show their school spirit, with any Irvington merch qualifying as participation. Anticipation for the night’s dance characterized the day, as students finalized plans with excitement.
At the Homecoming Dance Rally, Rally Commissioners Rishab Vemula (12) and Rocky Yang (12) kicked off the rally with powerful entrances to raise the spirit of all dance attendees. Vemula shared what makes the Homecoming Rally particularly special compared to other rallies. “The Homecoming rally is our biggest rally with almost 1400 people in the audience. There is a higher amount of pressure on our acts to perform at their best quality,” he mentioned.
Irvington Cheer then performed, followed by ICED’s highly synchronized dance performance to “St. Chroma” by Tyler, the Creator. After some games involving both participants from the crowd — including inflatable-bubble wrestling, a crowd favorite, and newly introduced “Dwerk,” in which participants with tissue boxes strapped to their stomach aimed to use their best dance moves to shake out the ping-pong balls stuffed inside — and class officers — namely, three-legged wig snatching — homecoming royalty was revealed.
During the 2025 Irvington Grammy Awards show, Yadhu Karumbayiram and Samantha Del Rosario were named Homecoming Royalty. Del Rosario expressed her shock when she was crowned. “When I was crowned Homecoming Royalty it felt not only surreal: I didn’t even expect to make it to top 10, let alone win homecoming queen, but it also made me truly grateful for everyone I’ve met, including classmates, friends, and people I simply have a brief conversation with. The whole experience has honestly served as a reminder to me that people like me for being myself.” She also emphasized her hope to leave behind a legacy of positivity and kindness in Irvington’s culture. “I want to be remembered as someone who brought fun and welcoming energy to Irvington, whether it be through involvement in the several clubs, or just talking to random people when I get the chance. For future generations to come, I hope students continue to act out of kindness, always look at the positive side, strive to befriend whoever, and help whenever possible!”
To cap off the rally, the winner of spirit week was announced via pizza boxes. Each class’s designated pizza box contained their spirit week results inside; once opened, each class would discover what place they had received in the competition. While the juniors managed to snag first place in the Bench setup competition, the seniors swept the other categories, winning spirit week overall. Vemula also shared that he felt the rally was a success, stating, “I’ve only heard really positive things about the whole rally so far, so I can confidently say our goal was met. This was the last Homecoming season I got to experience and as an RC, I’m glad I ended it with a bang.” He also highlighted the importance of engaging with the school and spirit as students. “Through our rallies, I hope to inspire the underclassmen to think the same way. Getting involved with school spirit and various events will create life lasting memories. If I had one thing to tell Irvington students, it would be to ‘try everything, and regret nothing’.”
As the rally came to a close, it was time for the dancing to begin. Students flooded into the courtyard, where neon signs and projected nostalgic clips of Toy Story and Snoopy celebrated the 2025 theme, Toon Into Hoco. As the night stretched on, students could be found posing for pictures with their friends, waiting in line for food, including pizza, chips, and an assortment of drinks, and dancing. The area next to the DJ, the mosh pit, featured enthusiastic dancing, chanting, and crowd-surfing — a flurry of motion stimulated by the familiar, dynamic playlist.
Spirit week and homecoming always serve as testaments to the strength of Viking school spirit. This year, the effort of ASG members, class councils, teachers, and the student body as a whole was highlighted in the success of the week’s events. From the lively rally on Monday morning to the electrifying dance on Friday night, this week showcased one of the most valuable aspects of Viking life: the incredible community we share as a school.
