The football team, the cheerleaders, the marching band, the E-Board and others all come together to make the homecoming pep rally and football game happen. However, one other important group often goes unnoticed in the part they play in making homecoming happen: the Honor Guard.

The Honor Guard is one of the many specialized teams in JROTC. With their partners across from them, the honor guard holds sabers and presents the homecoming court during the pep rally and at halftime during the football game. 

“Honor guard is a group of ten people and we present the homecoming court at … the football … homecoming,” Theo Scarlett (10) said.

All of the Honor Guard members are part of one of the two JROTC drill teams: Unarmed and Armed. The majority of the Honor Guard members for football homecoming are from the armed drill team. The members are selected by Armed Drill Commander Conner Blumkin. As members of a drill team, potential Honor Guard members show that they have the dedication necessary to excel as an Honor Guard member.

“I’m looking for people that are capable and [have] good listening and [can] follow,” Conner Blumkin (12) said. “A leader. People that I can trust to lead in my absence.”

Blumkin is responsible for creating the Honor Guard’s homecoming routine and teaching it to the other members. He also leads the practices they have every week.

“We have practices… usually once a week … until 4[pm],” Scarlett said.

Being on the Honor Guard has its difficulties. For the Honor Guard, Homecoming is a formal event. While others are cheering and having fun, members of the Honor Guard must maintain a level of maturity and decorum. Members attend arduous weekly practices where they repeatedly run the routine while holding heavy sabers upright for extended periods of time.

“Being on honor guard is an experience.  …it’s really tough because you have to have the arm strength to hold up the sword,” Joselyn Aguilar (11) said. “It’s a fun experience so far, [but] you have to be serious when it comes to that day. You can’t mess up.”

However, despite the effort required, many members feel that being a member of the Honor Guard is a fulfilling experience.

“I was just really honored to have been chosen for this,” Scarlett said. “Being on Honor Guard is a really cool and fun experience. It’s like one big family.”