Oct. 11 – 16 marks the 2010 Homecoming Week for Chief Sealth International High School and “Your Own Disneyland Adventure” is the theme.

Please see the attached document above for a full schedule of activities.

The Herald did a Q and A with Chief Sealth Athletic Director/Activity Coordinator Sam Reed over the weekend, and here is what he had to say about the event:

Q: How did the theme, "Your Own Disneyland Adventure" come about?

A: Each summer the newly elected ASB officers spend a week together at a high school leadership camp. After coming back from a week listening to, and sharing ideas with over 300 other student leaders from around the state they are filled with great ideas. This year’s group narrowed down the ideas and came up with the concept of looking “back in the day” to when they were “kids.”. Disney images and movies are so popular and easy to work with that it can be something everyone can work with.

Q: Traditionally, do the students at Chief Sealth get fired up and involved with homecoming week? What does the event signify for the school and its students?

A: In each of the my four years at Sealth, I’ve seen school spirit on the up-tick. This is simply the week where we’ve tried to really cram in a ton of fun and activities to get everyone excited for the start of the school year. ‘Sealth Spirit’ is definitely high this year and with the excitement of the new building, students are really feeding off of it.

Q: Are there any particular events during the week that you would like to highlight? Are there any event(s) that you would encourage community members to attend?

A: The week will be a lot of fun for the sports fans in West Seattle. For those that watched the first game of the season between the Sealth and West Seattle girls’ soccer teams (won 2-0 by WSHS) know that this game will have a lot intensity. Most of these girls grew up playing on youth teams together and against each other so there are no surprises – just good, fun competition. That game will be followed by the volleyball game between Evergreen (discussed below)

Then there’s the Friday football game that is really what everyone thinks about when you think “homecoming”. The game should be a good one as the guys have been working hard and making steady gains on the field, so when you throw in a big and excited crowd it should be a lot of fun. If you’re going to the game though, make sure you don’t get up and stretch during halftime because I’ve been told that our Marching Band has an awesome show on tap full of a couple fun surprises.

Q: With the "Paint the Gym Pink" volleyball game, have you seen increased excitement/involvement since professional sports in America have done a good job of wearing pink on the field to support Breast Cancer Awareness?

A: Definitely – our student-athletes see what the NFL and other sports have done in promoting awareness and it’s almost become a “cool” thing to do. Our girls’ volleyball team was excited about the idea and I’ve heard we’ll have a pretty big crowd that night as well.

Q: Regarding Wednesday's Homecoming Dinner and Auction, what does the dinner cost and auction proceeds go towards?

A: Proceeds will go directly to the teams throwing the dinner – the football, volleyball and boys’ basketball teams (those purchasing a ticket to the dinner will also receive free admission to the boys’ first basketball game in the new gym). Players from those teams have been selling color-coded tickets that will track which team the donation will go to and auction proceeds will be split among the three.

Q: Are there any students/faculty you would like to highlight for their involvement in Homecoming Week?

A: The Key Club, led by senior officers Kathryn Ushimaru and Elizabeth Menstell, have done a great job generating excitement for Monday’s blood drive. All of the ASB and Class Officers have done a tremendous job garnering excitement and planning all the details that go into this week.

Q: In your words, what is the importance of Homecoming Week for the students, school and/or community?

A: Obviously High School is ultimately about the education that a student works four years to obtain and that prepares one for further education, but in many ways it’s weeks like this one that puts the icing on the cake and helps to make these years fun, exciting and memorable. It’s my belief that if I can help get students excited about sports, clubs and extra curricular activities that they’re going to be excited about coming to school and learning everyday.

So check out the schedule (word attachment at the beginning of the article) for upcoming events and ways to support Chief Sealth students and their Homecoming Week. If you have any questions about the events, Sam Reed can be reached at sjreed@seattleschools.org or 206-252-8603.