Living in a college town, especially a college like Michigan State University (MSU)​​, can impact the day-to-day lives of students, parents, and other citizens. On Oct. 18, an MSU football game, East Lansing High School’s (ELHS) last home football game, and the MSU homecoming parade were all celebrated on the same night. The MSU homecoming parade is one of many ways that ELHS is connected to the university. Many ELHS students make it a tradition to watch the parade each year. 

“I love seeing the little kids excited and everything,” Kaila Cravotta (9), a clarinet player in the ELHS marching band said. “There’s a lot more people there than at ELHS’s homecoming, and it’s just a fun atmosphere.” 

This year, several ELHS groups joined the festivities. The ELHS marching band played alongside the MSU band

“It’s a little hard because you have to make sure you stay in time with everyone, but it’s really fun,” Cravotta said. 

ELHS’s Key Club helped decorate a float for the parade to raise awareness of their club and the Kiwanis Service Club. The club’s goal is to fund book vending machines for the elementary schools. These machines will encourage students to read by rewarding good behavior with “tokens” that can be used to get books from the machines. Key Club Co-President Embeth Hall (12) believes the parade will promote this goal. 

“Our float’s decorations were focused on the book vending machines that [Kiwanis service club] is currently helping to fund,” Hall said. “Our overarching goal this year is to improve literacy.”

MSU homecoming may close roads and make the streets busy, but the annual celebration is an important part of Michigan State’s and ELHS’s history and future. 

“I think [the parade] really brings us closer together,” Maxim Craig (9), a member of Key Club, said. “It gives us something that we can all connect over.”