Stay at Homecoming

Along with every other OCSA event,homecoming has gone virtual. While students couldn’t spend their Saturday dancing the night away at the House of Blues, the leadership team streamed a 36 minute pre-filmed homecoming video to still recognize the annual homecoming event. The video resembled the format of OCSA’s 2020 Virtual Graduation and Virtual Season Premiere.

High school dance coordinator, Arielle Schmid (MT ‘21) said,“I really hope that people are reminded of OCSA culture and that the people are what make it important, and that we’re all here for each other in this weird time.”

The montage of Snapchat memories, people and videos from the OCSA campus certainly brought back many memories of OCSA spirit and daily energy. Students also got to see their favorite teachers dancing at home to Dancing With Myself by Billy Idol. 

Schmid also noted that she was most excited for the Kevin Chamberlin cameo. Yes. Bertram from Disney Channel’s Jessie. 

“Find the joy in this experience, because that’s what’s most important in life [...] I would come and tell you this in person but… it’s too far. For those of you who grew up on Jessie, that was my catch phrase” said Chamberlin.

Another Disney Channel star, David Henrie, also sent a message to OCSA students. He wished us all a happy homecoming and even made a little magic spell gesture to pay homage to his role as Justin Russo on Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place.

The virtual homecoming featured three OCSA bands, The Ashleys, French Street, and Cabaret Combo. These live performances, two of which were performed in front of Symphony Hall, were reminiscent of OCSA’s beloved Fridays on 10th Street. 

The 2020 Homecoming court also made an appearance! Yasmeen Baghdadi (CMD ‘21) was crowned Homecoming queen, and Hunter Laws (MT ‘21) was crowned Homecoming king. 

“Thank you for electing me as your Stay-at-Homecoming King. I will use my power to better and brighten this world. I will feed the homeless, I will clothe the poor. Everything I do is for a better world and this is where that starts. Homecoming court 2020.” said Laws in his satirical (or maybe serious?) acceptance speech. 

This was definitely OCSA’s most unique dance to date. While it wasn’t the expected way to spend Homecoming night, it brought special moments that wouldn’t have been possible at an in-person homecoming, like cameos from Disney Channel stars and performances from OCSA alumni.