Class Pride in Rockville Centre

It was a bright, clear Saturday afternoon along Sunrise Highway and North Long Beach Road as South Side High School students, faculty and friends embarked on the 2010 Homecoming celebration.

At 12:30 p.m. last Saturday, hundreds lined up in Municipal Parking Field 12 under the LIHerald billboard to kick off the annual parade, which finished a half hour later at the high school’s Shepherd Street grounds.

This year, the four featured floats in the parade were colorful and lively as they passed by the crowd lining North Long Beach Road. With help from teachers and parents, the freshman class designed a float based on the children’s book “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” while the sophomores created one inspired by “The Wizard of Oz.” The junior class built a “Cat in the Hat” float, and the seniors designed their float based on “Alice in Wonderland.”

Christine Brown, an English teacher at South Side and a junior class advisor, thanked school parents for their role in helping to plan the Homecoming parade. “It required a lot of hard work and a lot of parental support,” Brown said of the preparation. “A lot of credit should be given to the adults.”

According to students, it took five weekends to construct the floats. They began brainstorming class themes and T-shirt ideas at the beginning of the school year.

In the days leading up to the celebration and football game, South Side students enjoyed Spirit Week at school. Spirit Week 2010 included competitive events such as pie-eating contests, trivial pursuit, tug-of-war and lip-sync karaoke. Students also collected 5,000 cans and sent the money they raised to local charities. They collected 6,000 toothbrushes as well, which they donated to countries in Africa.

“We put a lot of work into the collections because we wanted to make a difference,” said Student Government Association President Kevin Remy, a South Side senior. “Leading up to Homecoming, there was much help and support with the two collections … As for the friendly competitive events, the games were a great way for everyone to have fun.”

Junior Kasey Ng, a vice president of the Student Government Association, shared similar sentiments. “It was a very competitive and exciting Spirit Week,” Ng said, “and it helped to bring the classes together.”

The South Side Cyclones hosted the Hewlett Bulldogs in the Homecoming football game. The Cyclones lost badly, 56-0, but during halftime the senior king and queen rallied the crowd, riding around the school track in a red Lexus. This year’s Homecoming king was Robert Griggs, and the queen was Brianna McNally. Also during halftime, the final results of Spirit Week were announced: the senior class finished in first place, while the junior class took second.