There is a buzz about the town. Have you heard about the Giant Mum for Homecoming?
Emmalee Alatorre and her floral design class launched a project to make the largest-ever Giant Mum for the 2024 Homecoming game between Yorktown Wildcats vs Pettus Eagles. The Giant Mum was made of coffee filters, glitter from the Dollar Store, printed paper laminated, hot glue, staples, and tape. It was initially 35 ft. long and had to be downsized to 20 ft. to fit into the building.
Alatorre majored in agricultural education at Tarleton State University and is presently working on a master’s degree in plant and soil science at Texas Tech. She is in her fourth year of teaching and is a newcomer to Yorktown. Yorktown welcomed her with open arms two years ago and made her feel at home. She likes teaching at YISD because she can teach a wide variety of classes ranging from advanced animal science, small animal, equine, principles of agriculture stock production, and floral design. The Lions Club awarded her Teacher of the Month for September.
Last year, in her first year of teaching at YISD, she taught floral design, which she had never done before. The project was making homecoming mums, and everyone enjoyed it very much. This year, the students decided to make a Giant Mum. Each student created a design plan that was placed on the board for votes. A composite was made by taking different aspects from individual designs. As the deadline approached, all the students jumped in to help.
After downsizing the Giant Mum to fit into the Yorktown library, the older and taller students transported it there. The Giant Mum was displayed on the field for the Friday Night Lights Homecoming game of Yorktown Wildcats vs Pettus Eagles, where Alatorre and her students raised the flags at kickoff on October 11, 2024. She hoped the players would be more excited with the boost of the Giant Mum that embodied the school spirit behind them.
The Giant Mum represented an accomplishment that involved diverse groups of students working together in problem-solving. As they worked together, they got to know each other. This year’s mum highlighted the seniors and their football, cheerleading, band, and other school activities. Future design improvements will make the Giant Mum shorter and broader. Ms. Alatorre looks forward to establishing a tradition of a Giant Homecoming Mum, which will be revealed at the Homecoming Kick-off.
Alatorre's floral design class provides a Floral Arrangement Subscription to generate funds. The annual subscription plan is $200 and each month the subscriber receives a flower arrangement. Please contact Ms. Alatorre for more information.
