Do you know the words of the alma mater?
It is no secret that—in the past—the playing of the alma mater has been treated as the unofficial dismissal bell for students itching to get home. This year, however, the school has opted to play the song before Jam at pep rallies to keep students in the gym until the sanctioned time to leave.
But where did this song come from, and how has it managed to remain as such a critical part of Homewood tradition?
In 1972, the year Homewood High School was founded, Michael “Mike” Miller received an offer to build the choral program from scratch.
Starting a brand new school is no small task; many components need to come together to ensure students could feel proud of their new learning environment. Since the Homewood staff was initially small, all eyes were on the choir teacher to compose the perfect alma mater.
While he studied at Samford University, Miller occasionally took time off to pursue acting in New York—a passion that lasted for nearly a decade. He was then hired by Fairfield High School as a teacher and football coach.
“It was kind of exciting to be in a situation where we were [the] beginning faculty for a new school,” Miller said. “We felt kind of special…Someone came to me and said ‘We need an alma mater and we need it pretty quick’, so in an afternoon I just sat down and wrote it.”
Miller wanted the song to have rhyme and meter without sacrificing the integrity of the lyrics.
Drawing on his experience in stage acting and composition, he was able to create something simple that would resonate with the larger Homewood community.
One of the parts that have stood the test of time are the last three words: honor and loyalty. Those words had already been used as the basic principles of the high school, so they were included to evoke a sense of commonality between alumni and students.
“I think that it’s extremely important for students to have school spirit,” Miller said. “It is probably one of the most important dimensions of any school…An alma mater is kind of a focus, a center that can be used to express school spirit, and having one gives us some identity.”
Miller was promoted to assistant principal at Homewood, and later served as the principal of Shades Cahaba Elementary.
Over the years students had to know the alma mater well enough to write it down—complete with perfect spelling and punctuation.
Freshman counselor Emelie Sara Vines is a Homewood alumna with vivid memories of such assessments. Although being told to sing the song throughout the hallways was a somewhat embarrassing experience, she recounts, it contained sentimental value that carried on into her senior year.
Her goal now is to increase school spirit by teaching the alma mater to freshmen who may have little to no experience with high school pep rally traditions. She keeps a copy posted outside her room on the freshman hall, and encourages students take the time to learn it.
“Pep rallies are what you make it,” she said. “You could stay in there and be on your phone with your arms crossed, or you could have fun.”
Mike Miller’s granddaughter, Ella, is now a freshman at Homewood. When the alma mater is played at school functions, she feels proud to have ties to such an important aspect of the Patriot identity.
“People don’t know [the alma mater] super well,” she said. “So I think Ms. Vines trying to bring it back is really cool.”
Vines hopes that one day all students will treat the alma mater the way it should: with honor and loyalty.
