Photo contributed by The Winonan Student Newspaper (Taylor Nyman, photo editor).
Homecoming week has come and gone this year, leaving the WSU community with amazing memories from fun events such as the Pep Fest, Chalk the Walk, Community Tailgate Party and more.
To celebrate Warrior pride and the many heroes who are important to us, the #WSUHoCo16 theme was A Hero’s Homecoming. To honor everyday heroes, thank you cards to friends, roommates, faculty and staff were written by students and delivered during Homecoming week and a Nominate Your Hero social media contest was also held.
Countless hours of planning, organizing and volunteering took place to make Homecoming 2016 happen, and the individuals who were part of this deserve to be recognized and thanked! Here are your Homecoming committee heroes:
Brittany Bieber
Major, minor: Elementary Education and Early Childhood, Middle Level Mathematics and Child Advocacy Studies (CAST)
Committee role: WSU Community Tailgate Party Chair
“My favorite part about planning the homecoming events is getting the students excited about their campus and athletes. It was so much fun working with students on campus that had the same motivation by just giving the students a great and safe Homecoming! Seeing the success of the events makes the time planning worth it in the long run.”
Mollie Bortner
Major, minor: Business Administration and Human Resources
Committee role: Spirit Co-Chair
“My favorite part of planning Homecoming events was seeing all of the planning falling into place, and seeing the campus come together! That really is what Homecoming is all about.”
Ashley Brotherton
Major, minor: Mathematics Secondary Education
Committee role: Pep Fest Chair
“My favorite part about planning the homecoming events was getting involved in the behind-the-scenes of what happens. It was fun to see how we went from meeting in April with a beginning plan, and then the final product of Homecoming week. It was fun to see all of our hard work come alive, and how people really enjoyed the week because of our events.
Jacob Fernholz
Major, minor: Graphic Design
Committee role: Graphic / PR Chairperson
“My favorite part about the planning process was hearing all of the ideas that the other members of the group had, especially the veterans. I learned that a tremendous amount of creative thinking, planning and hard work goes on in the background to make these events as successful as they can possibly be.”
Maggie Halberslaben
Major, minor: Social Work, Child Advocacy Studies (CAST)
Committee role: Spirit Co-Chair
“My favorite part of planning Homecoming events is using the experiences we have had in the past on campus to figure out what the student population would like the best. I also really enjoyed watching the events run and seeing the students enjoy them; it makes all the hard work worth it.”
Kendra Jensen
Major, minor: Public Relations, Political Science
Committee role: Social Media Chair
“My favorite part about Homecoming was seeing students coming out to all the events and showing their appreciation and love for Winona State.”
Lexie Mertens
Major, minor: Movement Science, Nutrition
Committee role: Parade Chair
“My favorite part about planning Homecoming is actually seeing all of our hard work come together and the joy that this time brings to the campus and its students.”
Annie Pendl
Major, minor: Social Work, Criminal Justice and Child Advocacy
Committee role: Coronation Chair and Talent Show Coordinator
“My favorite part of Homecoming was being able to crown WSU’s first Royalty duo and show Winona State the first Superheroes Got Talent Show.”
Megan Sticha
Major, minor: Human Resources Management and Business Administration
Committee role: Elections Chair
“My favorite part of Homecoming events was putting on the events and meeting all of the students who attended.”
Kallie Weiser
Major, minor: Legal Studies, Political Science
Committee role: T-Shirt Chair
“My favorite part about planning Homecoming events was figuring out what events students would enjoy the most.”
Joe Reed
WSU title: Student Union / Activities Director
Committee role: Homecoming Advisor
“My favorite part is when it all comes together. It takes a few months of planning, but the true reward is when everything goes well for the week, especially the parade! In 20-plus years of coordinating the parade we never had to cancel because of weather. So, I would like to give a ‘shout out’ to Mother Nature!”
Tracy Rahim
WSU title: Associate Director of Student Activities & Leadership
Committee role: Homecoming Advisor
“My favorite part was seeing the great ideas and plans that the Homecoming committee came up with actually come to fruition. We planned many new events/activities and they went over better than we thought. We got tremendous feedback from students and will turn many of these new events into new Homecoming traditions! Homecoming is a time for the campus community to come together and celebrate what it means to be a WSU Warrior.”
Tracy Hale
WSU title: Associate Director of Alumni Relations
“Favorite part of Homecoming: Recognizing our Distinguished Alumni and Grand Marshals at the Friday night banquet.”
