HOMECOMING 2009 -

This letter was sent out by the Ripon High School via the Chamber of Commerce today:

Greetings Ripon Community Businesses,

I am writing to you as your local high school principal regarding the topic of “Homecoming.” In the fall of 2008, an incident occurred during Homecoming Week, which got many people’s attention. As some young people were running around town one evening things escalated and went way too far—two students were secured to trees and at least one student was urinated on. Another series of incidents which was very concerning was the rise in “egging” incidents. In addition to the damage to property, as students are running and driving around in the evenings, there is an obvious safety concern.

These matters lead to a discussion at the School Board level of Homecoming and the related activities—both school sponsored and non-school sponsored. Some school districts have eliminated Homecoming from their calendars, while others continue to have Homecoming and the related activities. While I sometimes feel that life (at least for Assistant Principal Rick Bunge and me) would be much easier without Homecoming, there certainly have been many more positives than negatives which have resulted from Homecoming Week. Therefore, I do feel it is a positive thing that the School Board continues to support the concept of Homecoming here in Ripon. That being stated, the School Board does expect us to do our best to work with the community to avoid problems, and if problems persist, Homecoming could certainly be in jeopardy in the future.

As adults, we have all “survived” Homecoming festivities. Different towns and school communities have varying traditions regarding their idea of what Homecoming includes. From my five years in Ripon for example, it is clear to me that many teenagers and adults feel that toilet papering is “OK” during Homecoming, while others do not. A key concern that Police Chief Dave Lukoski and I discuss every year is the type of incidents and behavior that toilet papering leads to. Sooner or later, people push the envelope and behaviors which hurt someone can be the result.

So what can you do to help? School Superintendent Zimman, Chief Lukoski, School Resource Officer Butters, Assistant Principal Bunge, and I respectfully request that we work together in a proactive manner on this topic and that your place of business not sell items such as toilet paper and eggs to teenagers as we approach Homecoming Week (September 27 – October 3). We fully realize that you have a business to run, and that we are living in difficult economic times. Many of you also actively support our students and school programs—thank you. You and I also know that many communities and other stores are just a short drive away for the teenagers who do want to get involved in toilet papering and egging. I even hear reports about parents who drive their children and friends around or who provide items to students. To state the obvious, we also need parents to work with all of us to keep Homecoming a positive week. We have communicated with our parents and students and will continue to do so.

I would like to end this letter on a good note. Too often, teenagers are painted in a negative light. Our high school students are coming off of a year with a great deal of positive student involvement at school for events like Homecoming and Winterfest. To be honest, the students have been handling the school sponsored events during these special weeks extremely well. We have many wonderful young people in Ripon which is a testament to our families and our community. Thank you for considering our request and for all that you do for our school and our student body. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions (748-4616).

Sincerely,

Dan Tjernagel, Principal

Homecoming 2008 Facts
Much of the following information is reprinted from the report Principal Dan Tjernagel prepared for the Ripon Area School District School Board in October of 2008.

There was some serious misbehavior during the week of Homecoming 2008 when some students were running around town in the evenings. Here is a summary of the Ripon Police Department complaints received during Homecoming Week 2008:
• Reports of 24 egging complaints
• Reports of 11 toilet papering complaints
• Reports of 12 vandalism complaints
• Report of two students being the victims of a hazing incident. (Among other things, they were saran-wrapped to trees and were urinated on.)
• Report of one carrying a concealed weapon complaint
• Reports of two disorderly conduct complaints
• Report of one graffiti complaint
• Reports of two theft complaints
• Report of one illegal discharge of fireworks complaint

Our students have behaved well at school-sponsored events and activities during Homecoming Week.
• One of the 55 incidents to the Ripon Police department listed above took place during a school-sponsored activity on school grounds. It involved an RMS student and took place at the Friday night football game.

Parent and Community Member complaints and contacts
• I spoke with six different adults about litter, misbehavior, or illegal activity. Three were parents of high school students and three were parents of graduates. One of the parents of a high school student came in for a face-to-face meeting. I encouraged him to share his feelings with the Board, which he did. I had email correspondence with one of the parents I talked with on the phone (mentioned above) and also emailed with the person’s spouse.

• As of October 8, 2008, Officer Butters had spoken with and/or met with 27 different parents either during Homecoming Week or during the week after Homecoming Week while conducting investigations.

• Toilet papering is something that . . .
o some people do in good fun, and some people think is OK,
o some people do not like at all, and sometimes leads to more serious misbehavior.

• The community and high school where I began my teaching career got rid of Homecoming due to excessive problems outside of school—especially what students were doing in the evenings.

• Approximately 320 Homecoming breakfasts were served to students, parents, and community members on the Friday morning of Homecoming.
Mark your calendars for Friday morning, October 2, 2009. You are all invited!

• Let’s work together to avoid problems during Homecoming 2009 so we can keep our young people physically and emotionally safe—both at school and in the community. Thank you for your assistance and positive support.