FARMINGTON, Mich. (WXYZ) — Farmington and North Farmington High School are gearing up to take to the grid-iron for a rivalry game Friday night.
Kick-off is at 7 p.m. at Farmington High. This would have been Farmington's homecoming game.
But with high school students learning virtually, and the ongoing pandemic, it just wasn't possible.
7 Action News talked to the principals of both schools and three students to find out how the schools are turning lemons in lemonade.
"Everybody's going through a difficult time with COVID and being at home and away from our friends," said Elena Nicholson, senior class president at Farmington High School.
That's why Farmington, North Farmington and Farmington Central are coming together for Unity Week.
"What we're doing this week is we have Spirit Week, and we also have a fundraiser going on, which is for Operation Common Good," said Nicholson.
It's a charity that started in the Farmington Public Schools District. The goal of Unity Week is to raise $2,020 by Friday night's football game.
Every cent will be used to help provide families in Farmington and Farmington Hills with resources like food, clothing and school supplies.
"We all thought it would be a good idea to have this unity week to bring everybody together in order to create a culture and environment that's welcoming to everybody," said Terrence Bartell, senior class president at North Farmington High.
"People are really interacting on social media with people posting all the spirit days on their stories, and I think it's really cute," said Juliette Quenioux, student senate president at North Farmington.
If the students reach their fundraising goal, they'll get to see their principals and even the superintendent dress like a rival school's mascot.
"What an amazing way to try to draw some good out of a rather challenging time," said Joe Greene, principal at North Farmington High. "For them to be able to plan something within all the constraint that no one would have ever predicted."
Win or lose, each team will have a big reason to be proud.
"I really like the idea of saying that 'yes, we're cross-town rivals, but we're also cross-town friends'," said Thomas Shelton, Farmington High principal. "And I think that's what I'm hoping that this week illustrates."
