Normal Community West High School celebrated their homecoming this Friday, October 9. NCWHS beat Peoria Manual High School 64-15.

The game was followed by a fireworks show, provided by the Normal West Booster Club.

Normal West also welcomed eight graders who were interested in joining fall sports next year. The marching band had a cookout before hand where the eight graders could meet with members of the current band,

They then walked down to the stadium with the band, and would spend the game in the stands with them. Holly Sampson, a sophomore at NCWHS and a member of the 2015 Marching Band, said, “I remember coming to eight grade night when I was younger, I felt kind of out of place. So now I try to talk to a lot of the eight graders so they feel better about it.”

“Marching Band is intimidating,” said Sampson, “It looks a lot scarier than it really is, so it’s important to make sure the eight graders aren’t too scared.”

In addition to it being eighth grade night, the homecoming game came with many alumni coming back to see the Wildcats. Emily Schroeder, a 2015 graduate, and now freshman at the University of Illinois, commented, “I love college, but it was nice to come back and see old friends.”

“You almost don’t realize all the little things that you love about something until they’re gone.” said Schroeder. “That’s the way it is for me and high school.”

“Anything would have been nice to come back to, but with the big win of this game, and the fireworks at the end, it was just really special,” said Elli Alvis, another 2015 graduate of Normal West.

Schroeder and Alvis were both members of the Normal West Marching Band when they were in high school. The marching band alumni also sat in the stands with the current band and the eighth graders.