A Finish to Float Frenzy?

You’re at one of the many float building sessions, and all around you, students are hard at work creating a float that will soon become your class’s prideful masterpiece… Imagine it all gone. Flower party sessions and late night float building becoming a thing of the past. As soon as next year, this could very well be reality, with the many eco-friendly float ideas.
Already, there are many restrictions on floats this year, in an effort to make them less wasteful and more sustainable. In a recent interview with Mr. Sanders—the environmental science teacher here at Wilcox— he explains that “If I had it my way, I would just stop that whole tradition altogether. As a school, I’m embarrassed that we promote such a wasteful practice. This takes value away because it takes natural resources and turns them into garbage.” Mr. Sanders is confident that students will be able to adjust to having no floats and moving on.
Students have mixed feelings about the situation. While freshmen, who are new to the school, are excited for being a part of the Wilcox tradition, many of the upperclassmen are pro eco-friendly floats, understanding how destructive they are to the environment. Although Mr. Sanders is very passionate about his ideas on trying to end floats, there are no plans to completely remove them from the Homecoming agenda.
Class presidents pitched in many alternative ideas. One of them is as simple as reducing the size and making more restrictions such as limiting the amount of tissue paper flowers each class is allowed to use. Another solution considers working on a single float, with each class decorating one side. It has also been suggested that each class could just make some sort of long lasting structure that can be decorated each year. Mr. Sanders has also relayed hopes of perhaps creating floats from trash students picked off of the ground.
But then, one may ask, what would happen if floats were no more? Worry not, as ideas are bountiful. For one, there is the possibility of a homecoming dance. Additionally, all council presidents do not have any plans of completely taking away floats from the Wilcox tradition.

The Junior Class works hard together in order to construct their float for this year.

The two presidents of the junior and senior classes are siding more with Mr. Sander’s idea of taking away the floats completely and replacing them with a “greener,” more sustainable option instead. Both class presidents are very excited to use these alternatives to help create a new Wilcox tradition. Caroline Kloes, junior class president, who is siding with having eco-friendly floats, explains, “I’m honestly pretty in favor of it because while float building is a treasured tradition at Wilcox, I think we’ll be able to find equally fun alternatives that aren’t destroying the environment. You’re just with your friends and class and that’s what really matters.” Kloes makes a valid point. What is homecoming? Is it simply defined in the complex floats and dances we create? Or could any homecoming be special, as long as the school unity and spirit is there?
Ally Yi, sophomore class president, definitely agrees with the latter, saying, “Homecoming to me is school unity and everybody is able to participate in it. Taking it away won’t be as traditional as homecoming floats.” Every year, students from their respective classes come together to work on their class floats, which will eventually be shown off in the homecoming parade. However, while this does promote class unity, it is also the result of wasting resources and money. In one year alone, floats require ten pounds of tissue paper, a couple gallons of paint, and loads of other materials that build up to a whopping $500. And what do we do with thesefloats? After the float parade, it gets completely thrown away, wasting all the money and supplies spent.
When asked about how the Wilcox students would respond, pro eco-friendly floats’ Senior Class President Kim Ngo explains, “Some kids are on our side and think that this is long overdue. Others see this as a tradition that has been embedded in Wilcox. They’re not understanding that this is more than a tradition-it’s a global thing.”
In the end, whether one is in favor of eco-friendly floats or not, the Wilcox tradition is planned to be kept strong, with hopes of it being accepted by all Wilcox students however it changes. However, eco-friendly floats are definitely going to be making the next step. Restrictions this year may lead to a completely new tradition next year, so look out for new and sustainable ideas being integrated into our Homecoming traditions!