SM East students during the annual Lancer Day Parade in 2021. Some board members expressed reservations about trying to curtail families and community members' enthusiasm for raising funds for their schools. File photo.
Shawnee Mission East students and community members flooded Mission Road on Friday afternoon for what some consider “the best day of the year,” according to SM East’s student newspaper.
The annual Lancer Day Parade took place Friday afternoon during students’ seminar period, for the first time in two years. Last year, Lancers were still virtually learning at the beginning of the football season.
But the 2021 event went off without a hitch — despite the morning’s rainy weather. The Lancers will face the Shawnee Mission North Bison in the annual Nut Cup (the game marking the SM East and SM North rivalry) at 7 p.m. on Sept. 3.
Below is a look at the Lancer Day Parade, SM East’s official kickoff for the football season in pictures.
Prairie Village Mayor Eric Mikkelson and his wife, Margo, followed right behind the SM East band in the Lancer Day Parade.SM East Cross Country, pictured above, dressed up as road runners for the 2021 parade.The Lancer mascot also made an appearance along Mission Road for the parade.SM East football players trickled closely behind cross country and the Lancer mascot. Above, a SM East football player catches candy that’s being thrown back and forth from the crowd to the parade.SM East Theatre joined in on the Lancer Day Parade, as well.A couple of SM East art teachers, dressed as birds, show off their wings to the crowd.SM East cheerleaders dressed up as zebra for the 2021 parade.Kids watching the parade flocked to the candy thrown by high schoolers.A few students stopped along the way to take a picture commemorating Lancer Day 2021.The Lancer Dancers, or the dance team, wowed the crowd with their float. The flamingo theme allowed them to use the saying “This is our flock.”
? Hi! I’m Juliana Garcia, and I cover Prairie Village and northeast Johnson County for the Johnson County Post.
I grew up in Roeland Park and graduated from Shawnee Mission North before going on to the University of Kansas, where I wrote for the University Daily Kansan and earned my bachelor’s degree in journalism. Prior to joining the Post in 2019, I worked as an intern at the Kansas City Business Journal.
