Starpoint School shows off their Horned Frog spirit

Fort Worth, TX

12/15/2009

By: Kennedy Stewart, Schieffer School of Journalism

Purple tissue paper and silver tinsel are not typically the adornments seen on vehicles around Starpoint School at TCU. And while bumper stickers of all shapes and sizes are eye-catching in the carpool line, the vehicle in question wins hands-down for attractiveness and undeniable school spirit.

Of course, the vehicle is a Homecoming parade float and what began as a small initiative to be involved in a campus tradition turned into a huge success.

In the past, the involvement between Starpoint School and the TCU campus has always been one of mutual interaction, growth and development. According to the Starpoint School Web site, the goal of the school is to serve as a “laboratory school for learning disabled students…and [to serve as] an on-campus training site for TCU College of Education students preparing to become teachers.” However, in the past month, Starpoint’s involvement in other areas of TCU tradition has become much more pronounced.

For the first time, in the Homecoming Parade this year, Starpoint School completed a float that had everyone in the crowd talking.

Director of Starpoint School Marilyn Tolbert said she received an e-mail from Brad Thompson, the student activities adviser for Student Government Association as well as adviser for Homecoming this year, asking if Starpoint would be interested in participating in the parade.

“We really wanted the parade to represent all the different facets of the TCU community,” Thompson said. “Including Starpoint in that just made sense because they are such a special part of our campus.”

Initially, Tolbert explained that the staff and students were just going to carry a few banners and pass out candy; however, when the route for the parade was revealed and measured longer than one-and-a half miles, the parents of the students decided they were going to build a float.

After a couple weeks of working every day to decorate the float, it was ready for the parade. Parents mainly worked on construction, while students gave their input on what they wanted to see on the float, how they wanted to pass out candy, what music to play, and dividing up who rode on the floats or decorated golf carts.

All of their hard work was evident the day of the parade. For spectators, the Starpoint float was a crowd favorite.

Mika Southall, a student walking in the parade behind Starpoint’s float, said it was one of the best she saw all day.

“I was so impressed with the elaborate construction and the professional look of their float,” Southall said. “It was obvious they spent a lot of time and put a lot of energy into making their float very special for the Starpoint students and the people watching the parade.”

In the past, student organizations, mainly Greek sorority and fraternity pairings, worked on floats for the parade. This year, Homecoming Director Kendal Rader and Student Government Association representative, wanted as many cross-campus organizations represented as possible and pushed for as many people to be involved with the parade as were interested.

“Part of the vision of Homecoming this year was to build on relationships TCU has with groups in the community,” Rader said. “The Starpoint kids are right here on our campus, so I was thrilled that they would participate in the parade.”

Tolbert said that Starpoint School was so excited to be involved in the parade this year.

“We all love the campus and we love TCU and to be a part of this experience is such a wonderful way to be involved in a tradition that the campus and the community enjoy so much,” Tolbert said.

When asked if Starpoint School intends to participate in the parade again next year, Tolbert said, “as long as we are invited again, we will be there!”