Editor’s note: Beginning journalism students Kayla Kovach, Jackie Costulis and Ashlyn White also contributed to this story.

Homecoming week events require months of planning by Student Council to provide the community with a memorable experience that also needs work with city officials, outside vendors and the freshman campuses.

Eleven events take place over Homecoming week this year. These include decorating contests, spirit days, pep rallies, a volleyball tournament, the parade, the game and the dance.  All these events demand extensive planning, which is done all by StuCo members. All materials used for homecoming are paid with only the money raised by selling this year’s homecoming shirt.

StuCo sponsor Allison Stamey said the homecoming traditions have been built up in recent years. These changes have not been without hard work on the part of the senior StuCo officers, also known as the student body officers. These students often work from April of their junior year until October of their senior year to plan and create the homecoming that is so widely enjoyed by the community. The dance has, since Stamey’s arrival, grown to be an essential piece to homecoming week that many look forward to.

“When I first started, it was so strange because you would see this girl and boy and they would be like oh, ‘we’re going to homecoming together’ and I’d be like ‘Homecoming what together’, because there was no dance,” Stamey said. “Back then you asked someone to go and all they did was share a mum and garter. They didn’t even go to the game together. The dance has grown into something great.”

This year theme’s is Once Upon A Time In Lewisville, one of the multiple choices that was put forward by the StuCo officers from across all three campuses. The theme was eventually chosen due to the fact that it would let the students slip back into their childhood. This was also backed with the argument, “Who didn’t love fairy tales growing up?”

“Fairy tales, oh that’s fun, like we all like fairy tales,” senior class liaison Holly Weston said.

After the theme was chosen, the spirit dress-up days were also selected by the StuCo officers.

“We decide which ones have worked the previous years, which ones match our homecoming theme, which ones would be most likely for everyone to get dressed up for,” student body historian Araceli Castillo said.

Trying to coordinate events across three campuses has been a challenge for the past three years since Harmon opened its door for the 2012 school year, but it has not been insurmountable. Killough StuCo adviser Nicole Hume and Harmon adviser Julie Williams have been working to promote the events on their respective campuses.

“It is extremely difficult to have all three campuses on the same page, however, we are making it work,” Stamey said.

The highlight of homecoming week, arguably, is the parade. This year’s grand marshal of the parade is city mayor Dean Ueckert. Stamey said this underlines the city and community’s close ties and support of the high school and the traditions that surround it, and because of that, Lewisville’s homecoming festivities may be the largest in the state.

“We could not do our homecoming parade without the City of Lewisville,” Stamey said. “Our parade is probably the largest in the state. It takes a lot more than just me and the Student Council kids.”

The fire department sets up the order for the floats and the city lets the school use lights and sound systems for free. They’ve also purchased barriers to protect children from cars during the events. The parade will be held on Wednesday at 6 p.m. this year after being held on Thursdays in recent years. Afterward, a community pep rally will be held at city hall.

“The one great thing Lewisville has over a lot of high schools is the tradition that we carry year to year, and we have people come back that are 80 years old saying ‘I just gotta get to that Lewisville pep rally,’” Stamey said. “And having a community pep rally on the steps of city hall, it brought back that old town tradition to do that and that just allows people to from the neighborhood to come gather.”

The events of homecoming week will not be contained to the high school and one parade. The four middle schools and 11 elementary schools will take part in Chalk the Walk on Tuesday and be represented in the parade. Even adults are allowed to get join the fun, with the cheerleader-sponsored window painting of local businesses.

“Junior World Affairs Council helps us out with Chalk The Walk,” Weston said. “It’s basically where in the front of the school they decorate the sidewalk for homecoming. They make it like the theme. Anybody can go out there and help them.”

Unilike in previous years, StuCo only had four school days to squeeze in all the activities as Friday is a student holiday.

“This is a little bit different, but it’s OK,” Stamey said. “We’re used to planning.”

Though most students will be taking advantage of Friday off, StuCo will be hard at work. They have to decorate for Saturday’s dance as well as prepare for the tailgate and the game that evening.

Weston said the tailgate party, which begins at 4:45 on Friday, will feature grilled hot dogs, other food and drinks and a live band featuring assistant choir director Whitney Wilson.

The first-ever Jenna Sigety Memorial Volleyball Tournament will also be held in the Farmer Arena on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sigety was a volleyball player here who died in a car crash in October 2007.

This year’s homecoming has also had an added focus based on student feedback. The theme was chosen to play into the fantasy many had as children of being in a fairy tale. The DJ, Gary Lankford with Heavy G Productions, was chosen after many complaints about the one hired for past years. For those who are put off by certain types of dancing, rules have been put in place on what types of dancing will be permitted.

“This year, we’re really focusing on what the students want,” Weston said.