Cougar Den rocks, as 1,000 turn out for Dance Friday
The Cougar Den at Conant High School in Hoffman Estates was roaring Friday morning, more than two hours before the start of school.
Nearly 1,000 students showed up, dressed in the school's colors of red, white and blue, some as early as 5:30 a.m. The band kicked off its play set at 6 a.m., and the party started from there.
On Wednesday, Conant students learned they had won a contest held on Facebook to be the Prep Destination of the Week during the live telecast of NBC 5 News Today.
More than 4,000 votes were cast by Conant students and parents, edging them past St. Patrick High School in Chicago by 45 votes.
As a result, Conant's homecoming game against Mid Suburban League Conference rival Fremd High School in Palatine was previewed, along with live news feeds from the Conant gym that highlighted school spirit.
“This is the biggest week of the year,” said senior Julie Patel of Roselle, student council president, “and it's supposed to feel like it.”
The school's pep section, the Conant Crazies, led much of the cheering, along with cheerleaders, poms team and the mascot, Cassius the Cougar.
Cheering and dancing went on for much of the 6-7 a.m. segment, with live shots interspersed into the broadcasts, though NBC anchors remained in their Chicago studio.
That mattered little to Conant students, who held impromptu dance-off contests, doughnut-eating competitions and sideline cheers when the cameras weren't rolling.
Sophomore Demetrius Thomas from Hoffman Estates won the dance-off sets with some impressive break dancing, while junior Oscar Vazquez of Hoffman Estates won the doughnut-eating contest — before picking his trumpet back up and rejoining the band.
A last-minute invitation to Saturday's homecoming dance even came out of the morning assembly. Freshman T.J. Lunney of Schaumburg took the microphone and asked freshman cheerleader Izzy Eng, also of Schaumburg, to the dance.
She said yes, and the crowd went wild, again.
Homecoming queen Christina Rosales held court on her own, as her king, senior Matthew Cullen, and the rest of the varsity football team were instructed to sleep in and turn out for school at the regular time.
“How many other schools would have kids get up this early?” said Rosales, of Schaumburg. “There's no other school with this much school spirit.”
The segment ended with the traditional Friday Dance Party scene of students and their teachers dancing on the spot, taking the show into a commercial break.
A feast of doughnuts awaited students before they started class and regrouped before the afternoon pep rally.