Gallery: Lancer Day Parade

By Will Griffith, Tyler Russell, Zac Russell, Francesca Lorusso, Katie Cook, Annie Trenkle, Molly McDermed, Avra Welling, Darcy Kroening, and Maggie Rogers

September 5, 2025

For the first football game of the year, Lancer Day remains one of the biggest traditions at SM East. Students dressed up as everything from “outer space” to “cavemen and dinosaurs” to match this year’s theme: Lancers Throughout Time.

Once the parade reached the Village Shops, students sprinted to find a spot at the all-school pep rally.

Student Body President and senior Paige Bean, Principal Jason Peres and Prairie Village Mayor Eric Mikkelson all spoke where mayor Mikkelson named Bean the mayor of Prairie Village for the day and renamed “The Village Shops” to “Lancer Village”. After they were joined by senior Pep Execs Campbell Aldridge, Georgia Boyd, Grant Kimmel, LJ Morrissey, Andrew Rhodes, Luke Taylor and Hudson Weaver where they led the school in chants and concluded the pep rally.

Following the parade, the Lancers will play Olathe Northwest in their first home football game of the season at 7 p.m. at SM South. The theme for the game is Blue-out and students are encouraged to wear their blue Lancer jerseys made by the student store.

Check out this gallery on Harbie Photo to purchase pictures from this event by clicking the link below:

9.5.25 Lancer Day Parade

Senior Pep Exec Luke Taylor cheers with seniors Jack Reeves, Brady Boxberger and Henry Stiglic when introducing himself and other Pep Execs. Photo by Will Griffith
Senior Pep Execs Andrew Rhodes, Georgia Boyd, Hudson Weaver, LJ Morrissey, Luke Taylor, Campbell Aldridge and Grant Kimmel huddle together before their Lancer Day Pep Rally speech behind the podium. Photo by Will Griffith
Seniors Gabe Wallace, Ayden Mooney, Vince Kopp and Brady Boxberger pound the table in front of the stage after principal Jason Peres speaks about his hope for the varsity football team to win their football game against Olathe North West on Lancer Day. Photo by Will Griffith
Senior Pep Execs Andrew Rhodes, Georgia Boyd, Hudson Weaver, LJ Morrissey, Luke Taylor, Campbell Aldridge and Grant Kimmel do the “Go Bannanas” chant on stage during the Lancer Day Pep Rally. Photo by Will Griffith
Juniors Harper Reece and Stella Kaufman, and sophomores Mia Irwin and Violet Casey hold up signs on the soccer float before joining the parade. The girls soccer team chose “masquerade” as their Lancer Day theme this year. Photo by Molly McDermed
Junior Mia Mosher and Nell Stechschulte and senior Kirsten Meredith stand at the front of the girls tennis float cheering and tossing candy to the crowd. This year the girls tennis team dressed up as flapper girls. Photo by Molly McDermed
Future Lancers and kids from the community line the streets during Lancer Day yelling for candy from the floats. Students throw and hand candy out to the loaded crowds of kids and parents. Photo by Molly McDermed
Junior Lila Elwood and sophomores Layla Wening and Annabelle Goodhart gather around the phone to look at the photos they just finished taking. Photo by Darcy Kroening
Juniors Ava Slocum and Vada Walsh pose with senior Lila Kimmel as their picture is getting taken next to the float. Photo by Darcy Kroening
Sophomore Jessie Hill and junior Lainey Barret cheer towards the crowd while they throw candy to the kids over-flowing from the sidewalk. Hill and Barret were on the volleyball float along with the rest of the varsity team and were followed by the JV and C-team walking behind. Photo by Zac Russell
Seniors Clara Breneman, Lila Kimmel, and Sophomore Meg Eakes make a TikTok while waiting for the parade to begin. The three were on the swim float and were dressed up as pirates. Photo by Darcy Kroening
Freshman Jay Lisson and the freshman football float high five the crowd on the way to the Village. Photo by Francesca Lorusso
Junior Dane Schwartz untangles horseshoe string decorations to complete the Choir float. The SM East Choir float had a Western theme, with cowboy hats and bandanas. Photo by Tyler Russell
Indian Hills seventh-grader Xander Demetrio picks up a piece of candy during the parade. Before it hit the ground, sophomore David Williams tossed it into Demetrio’s basketball hoop from the Unified Team’s float. Photo by Tyler Russell
Freshman Claire Knudson raises her hand during the “Do It!” chant during the freshman’s turn. Knudson was a part of the SM East dance float, which was decorated with balloons and streamers. Photo by Tyler Russell
Freshman Ben Stocks, Simon Steinbacher, Jack Engelman and Henry Stauffer pass out candy and high five the sixth and seventh-grade boys surrounding the float. Photo by Zac Russell
Seniors Grant Kimmel and Campbell Alldredge and junior Charlotte Reintjes cheer on the floats to the entrance of the Village Shops. Photo by Maggie Rogers
Sophomore Harper Johnston, dressed as an ice queen on the volleyball float, points at the Lancer mascot cheering her on. Photo by Maggie Rogers
Seniors Gabe Wallace, Ayden Mooney and Gage Mayfield cheer on the crowd while on the varsity football float. Photo by Maggie Rogers
Sophomores Ben Griffith, Jeime Sandoval, Alex Hall, Gabe Rutiaga and Naser Bader cheer on the crowd from the football float. Photo By Avra Welling
The cheer team walks down 75th and Mission dressed in the theme Y2K to get to the pep rally. Photo By Avra Welling
Sophomores Charlotte Taylor and Sydney Feldman get excited to walk with the tennis float during Lancer day. Photo By Avra Welling

About the Contributors

Will Griffith, Online Photo Editor

Entering his sixth semester on staff, senior Will Griffith is excited to take on the role of Head Online Photo Editor. When he’s not making saves as a goalkeeper on the soccer field, he’s behind the camera shooting sports and other stories for The Harbinger. You can also find him up late editing photos and posting galleries or relaxing with friends while playing video games and soccer.

Tyler Russell, Photo Editor

After spending hundreds of hours on photoshop, junior Tyler Russell is pumped to continue his journey on The Harbinger as an Assistant Photo Editor. On a typical day, you’ll find him helping the other photographers or scrambling to finish student life photos on time while editing in the library. When Tyler isn’t slouched on the library spinny chair, you’ll find him playing tennis, baking anything he can find on pinterest, or searching through Disney artifacts. Despite the stressful moments, Harbinger has become a family to look forward to every day.

Zac Russell, Promotion Manager

Entering his second year on the Harbinger staff, junior Zac Russell is fired up to be a part of this awesome team as a photo mentor. When Zac isn’t procrastinating his Harbinger homework or dashing around town to take photos, you can find him conducting shenanigans with his friends, ordering in the nearest Chipotle line, or jamming out to Morgan Wallen! Zac can’t wait to learn many new ways to capture the best photos and be a part of this awesome staff!

Francesca Lorusso, Art Editor

Going into her fourth semester on the Harbinger staff, junior Francesca Lorusso is delighted to start as an art editor, photo mentor and page designer. When she isn’t struggling to write a coherent caption for a gallery or losing sleep over making someone’s page art, she is helping to plan an International club meeting, making costumes for a play or musical, or trying to perfect an AP Art project.

Katie Cook, Photo Mentor

Starting her third year on staff, senior Katie Cook is thrilled to be working as a photo mentor. Katie is excited to be back on the sidelines shooting Friday night football, even if it means suffering in thousand-degree weather or shivering out in the rain. When she is not cropping photos in the backroom, she spends her free time listening to music, eating Italian food, traveling, reading or watching bad rom-com movies.

Annie Trenkle, Photo Mentor

Going into her second year on staff, Junior Annie Trenkle is a photographer for the Harbinger. Outside of taking photos she is a part of the IB program and her favorite class in school is AP Physics. Annie’s outside of school activities include soccer, tennis, and basketball. She is also the chair of Harvesters Give Lunch and Wayside Waifs SHARE organizations. However, she can also be found doing the things she loves most which is traveling, shopping, and spending time with family and friends.

Molly McDermed, Assistant Photo Editor

Sophomore Molly McDermed will be starting her 2nd semester of Harbinger this year as a staff photographer and ads manager. When she isn’t stressing about ads sales or the next time she takes photos, she is practicing to become a college tennis player. Molly is most excited for the free deadline food and the endless memories this year!

Avra Welling, Assistant Promotion Manager

Starting her first year on Harbinger Sophomore, Avra Welling is prepared to prove that doing Harbinger is actually a personality trait. She’s ready to dive into photography and multimedia, even if it means spending more time with Lightroom than with actual sunlight. When she’s not asking her editors a million questions, Avra is buying her next concert ticket. She’s looking forward to meeting new people and maybe figuring out how to survive on less than eight hours of sleep.

Darcy Kroening

Sophomore Darcy Kroening is thrilled to be joining the Harbinger staff this year as a photographer. She is so excited to learn all about Harbinger and photography. When she’s not out taking photos, you can find Darcy doing a variety of things. She enjoys playing basketball, swimming, hanging out with family and friends and working out.

Maggie Rogers, Staff Photographer

Sophomore Maggie Rogers is looking forward to heading into this new year as a photographer on the Harbinger staff. You can usually find her at Overland Park Racquet Club or doing homework from her chemistry class. If she’s not there, she’s either at Swig with friends or shopping in Town Center.