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This is Homecoming Week! I was curious about how the tradition got started and was a little surprised to learn that it dates back to the early 1900s.
In 1910, University of Illinois football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg and athletic director George Huff encouraged alumni to “come home” for a football game against the University of Chicago. A year later, University of Missouri athletic director Chester Brewer invited alumni back to Columbia for a major rivalry game against Kansas. The event featured a parade, rally and, of course, the football game. More than 9,000 people attended, and the 1911 Missouri celebration is widely regarded as the event that established the model for the modern Homecoming.
During the following decade, Homecoming traditions began making their way into public high schools. What started primarily as an opportunity for alumni to return to their schools evolved into a weeklong celebration of school spirit, community and tradition.
Our Homecoming Week itinerary is packed with activities:
Monday, September 28
• 7:00 p.m. – Coronation, KSS Auditorium
Tuesday, September 29
• 9:30 a.m. – Royalty Court community & school tours and activities
Friday, October 2: Maroon & Gold Spirit Day
• 9:45 a.m. – Iron Man Volleyball
• 11:45 a.m. – Powder Puff Football
• 1:15 p.m. – Parade Line-Up
• 2:00 p.m. – Homecoming Parade
• 7:00 p.m. – Football Game & Field Show: Fergus Falls Otters vs. Princeton Tigers
• 9:00 p.m. – Homecoming Dance, Roosevelt Gymnasium
The weekend will also provide an opportunity to recognize the 2026 Hall of Fame inductees. Sponsored by the 544 Foundation in partnership with the school district, the Hall of Fame recognizes Distinguished Alumni, Arts, Athletics and Distinguished Service. The induction ceremony will take place Saturday, October 3, at 5:30 p.m. in the KSS Auditorium. The event is open to the public.
Congratulations to this year's Homecoming Royalty Court! FFHS Queen candidates are Ella Black, Emma Synstelien, Macey Dahl and Olivia Bernstetter. King candidates are Jaden Kwapinski, Jaxin Goeden, Kellen Funkhouser and Roric Hage.
Homecoming Week generates a lot of school spirit and school pride. More deeply, however, I think it is a celebration of relationships. It is an opportunity to return to a place where roots were planted; to rehash old memories with cherished friends; to reconnect with friends and family; and to create new memories with the people who make our school community special.
That may be one of the reasons the tradition of Homecoming has endured for more than a century. Schools change. Students graduate. Buildings change. Traditions evolve. But the relationships and memories created through our schools remain.
Here's to a fantastic week of celebration!
Go Otters!
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As we approach the upcoming general election, voters across Minnesota will be asked to consider a proposed constitutional amendment that directly impacts public education funding. If passed, it would bring nearly $100,000 of revenue to the Fergus Falls Public School District without raising taxes. Because constitutional amendments can be complex, I want to take this opportunity to share clear, educational information on what this measure involves, how the fund works, and where you can find official details before casting your ballot.
What is the Permanent School Fund?
The Minnesota Permanent School Fund is an existing, constitutional trust fund that has supported Minnesota’s public school students since statehood. Established in 1858 from federal land grants dedicated to education, the fund generates revenue through timber sales, mining leases, land management, and financial investments managed by the State Board of Investment.
Currently, the fund holds more than $2.3 billion in assets. Each year, distributions from this fund are apportioned to every public school district in Minnesota to support everyday operational budgets.
Read more: Supt. Drake: Understanding the Minnesota Permanent School Fund Constitutional Amendment
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Tomorrow morning will bring a flood of children into the hallways of Fergus Falls Public Schools once again. The start of a new school year is always filled with anticipation, high expectations, and the shared excitement of what lies ahead.
Whether we are welcoming our youngest learners as they take their first steps into Lincoln School or supporting our seniors as they embark on their final year, our commitment remains unchanged: to create a learning environment where every student is valued, supported, challenged, and empowered to succeed. Real growth occurs when we intentionally challenge our students to stretch beyond their comfort zones. Learning requires curiosity, perseverance, and hard work—and our dedicated staff are ready to set high expectations while providing the support our students need to meet them.
I am often reminded of a quote from one of my former teachers: “Your education is one of the few things in life that can’t be taken away from you.” Possessions can break, trends fade, and circumstances change, but the knowledge, critical thinking skills, and character developed through education stay with our students forever. Education is a lifelong investment, but to gain its full benefit, students need to be present.
Read more: Supt. Drake: Launching a Positive Start to the New School Year
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By the end of this week, we will have waved goodbye to the underclassmen to enjoy summer and bid farewell to the graduating class of 2026. It has been an extremely successful year for the district, with numerous accomplishments in academics, the arts, and co-curricular activities. We have much to be proud of.
The world we are sending our graduates out into is full of both opportunities and challenges. I have always viewed education as a partnership between school, student, family, and community. With that, how have we equipped the class of 2026?
The default outcome most people have for the purpose of education is, rightfully, that students will have acquired a good foundation of knowledge. Our students should be strong readers, have good fundamental math skills, and possess knowledge in social studies and science. In addition, our students have, at minimum, exposure to vocational courses and the arts. With our Otter Scholars program at the elementary level and near alignment for an Associate of Arts degree at the high school, our curriculum offers enough challenge and variety to meet the needs of all students.
Knowledge in and of itself doesn’t do a lot of good if you can’t do anything with it. We want our students to experience using their foundational knowledge to solve problems—and, in particular, we want them to solve problems that have an impact on their lives. It promotes better student ownership and engagement and answers the question, “Why do I need to know this?” Knowledge is applied using higher-order thinking skills to include inductive and deductive reasoning, scientific reasoning, and the principles of engineering. While it may sound counterintuitive, we want students to experience failure and frustration at times. Pushing through, developing “grit,” and persevering are hallmarks of the learning process.
Read more: Supt. Drake: The Otter Standard – Shaping the Leaders of Tomorrow
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It is fair to say that the classroom looks vastly different today than it did when I was a student. I still vividly remember the tactile click of an abacus in elementary school—a "cool" little device that was our first window into organized calculation. By high school, we had moved past the slide rule era. Even in Deer River, a community of modest economic means, we were early adopters. My first real brush with the future was an Apple IIe, where I learned to code in BASIC—a massive leap from playing "Hunt the Wumpus" on the mainframe at my father’s workplace.
We watched as the world shrank while its processing power exploded. As machines became smaller and more potent, the once-mighty Cray supercomputers became relics. To put that pace of change into perspective: the first iPhone in 2007 held more computing power than the Apollo Guidance Computer that landed Neil Armstrong on the moon. Today, even the chip inside a standard USB-C charging cable likely possesses more processing power than the technology that fueled the 1969 lunar mission. It is a staggering reality to wrap one’s head around.
Naturally, public education followed this trajectory. We moved from specialized computer labs to mobile carts, eventually arriving at the "one-to-one" model where every student is assigned their own device.
Read more: Supt. Drake: From Abacuses to Algorithms – Finding the Balance in the Digital Age