Choosing this year’s homecoming theme, HocoChella, was a student-led process. Leadership students and staff worked together to give Woodside a more open process that gave students from all grades a chance to contribute their ideas.

This year’s process looked a little different from before. Instead of leadership students deciding on their own, they made sure everyone had a chance to give input and vote. The goal was to get more students’ voices involved and make the theme something the whole school could be excited about.

“One leadership class at a time, we asked everyone for homecoming theme ideas and wrote them down,” senior BOSA Senator Grace Carrubba said. “Then we combine the list and see which ideas come up the most. This year, we took the top three and brought them to the class board meetings, where each grade voted. We also had students vote on Instagram, which we’ve never done before.”

The new process was meant to help students feel more included and make voting easier. Along with that, having multiple ways to vote gave more people a chance to share their opinions. Students were able to vote via an Instagram poll, which was meant to make it easier to spread the word about voting. Despite the process having included more students this year, leadership still wants more student involvement in the future, with a goal of making sure the theme represents the entire school.

“I think we should definitely try getting more schoolwide input and not just people from leadership classes,” Carrubba said. “Lots of people wonder how the theme gets picked.”

Looking forward to Woodside’s Winter Formal, the theme is going to be A Night in Greece. The dance will be held at Hiller Aviation Museum on Feb. 7.