Incentives help boost participation in annual Coronado High parade

       With about 20 floats out of 28 entries and a larger than normal crowd, the 36th annual Coronado High School Homecoming Parade through Old Colorado City Oct. 1 “went really well,” Student Body President Matt Dooley said afterward. The Coronado cheerleaders’ float with Cougar mascot
Westside Pioneer photo
       He didn't have a crowd estimate, but he believed the turnout was better than last year's attendance, which had been put at about 500.
       Especially pleasing to Dooley and others on the CHS Student Council was the healthy response to the float incentive plan council introduced this year. The council gave each float-maker $15 to help with costs, with the promise of the winning float receiving $250 (of which $150 goes to a charity of their choosing).
       That top honor, as determined by a consensus of CHS teachers serving as volunteer parade marshals, went to the boys' swim and dive team. The entry featured a giant monkey on a surfboard and a South Seas setting for 15 or so clearly enthusiastic swim-team members.
       “Our little competition really encouraged different clubs to do the best they could,” Dooley said.
       While the bulk of the parade entries came from Coronado clubs, groups and sports teams, several Westside feeder schools also took part. Music came from the Coronado and West Middle School bands, the Holmes Middle School jazz band and string musicians from Pike Elementary.
       The Homecoming Parade traditionally leads to the Homecoming Game that afternoon and the Home-coming Dance that night.
       Dooley's vantage point for the parade was from a convertible sports car, as one of the candidates for Homecoming royalty. Only later was the announcement made that, at least for a day, he was both president and king of Coronado High.

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