ALABASTER – Members of the Alabaster community are invited to attend the send-off celebration for the Thompson Warriors football team on Tuesday, Dec. 3, at noon.

THS students, faculty, and staff will line Warrior Parkway to cheer on the players when the buses depart at noon. The public is invited to attend and participate. Visitors should park in the baseball and softball parking lot. Balloons, shakers and signs are encouraged.

The players’ buses will drive past Thompson Middle School and Thompson Intermediate School en-route to Auburn, and students will be outside those campuses to cheer them on as well.

So that all students have an opportunity to safely travel to and from the game, system-wide dismissal and start times for Wednesday and Thursday will be as follows:

Wednesday, Dec. 4
-All grades will dismiss at 11:30 a.m.
-Buses will run at 11:30 a.m.
-No after-school care will be available and all extra-curricular activities will be cancelled.

Thursday, Dec. 5
-All grades will start school on a 3-hour delay.
-Buses will operate on a 3-hour delayed schedule.
-Breakfast will not be served.
-School will operate on a normal schedule once we begin. After school care will operate as normal.

Alabaster City Schools is encouraging residents and businesses to celebrate the team’s achievement on Wednesday, Dec. 4, by wearing white, displaying signs, placing “Go Warriors! Win state!” on business marquee boards and anything else to show support for the Warriors.

Special White Yard Signs for business and homes will be on sale Monday, December 2 at the Alabaster City Schools Central Office from 2pm-7pm for $10 each. Thompson cheer will be painting car windows at the THS rotunda parking lot on Tuesday, Dec. 3, from 5:30-7:30 for $5 per window. All proceeds will benefit the cheer program.

Thompson’s football team currently sits at 11-1 heading into the Dec. 4 matchup against the Central-Phenix City Red Devils in the Class 7A championship game at Jordan-Hare Stadium at Auburn University. During the season, the Warriors defeated Hoover twice and took down the Bucs 35-21 in the playoff semifinals on Nov. 22 to punch their ticket to their second championship appearance since 1982.

Game day information:
-On Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 4:45 p.m., players will disembark buses for a “Warrior Walk” outside Jordan-Hare Stadium at the corner of Heisman Drive and South Donahue Drive.
-Tickets to the game are available for $12 (+ GoFan fee) on www.gofan.co. Tickets will be $15 at the gate.
-There is no charge for parking at the stadium; however, parking is restricted to specific lots.
-THS will be the visiting team, and fans should sit on the east side behind the visiting team bench.  The best gates to enter are Gates 4.
-There is a CLEAR BAG POLICY at the stadium.  Attendees can view the policy by visiting www.auburntigers.com/clearbag. Please note that artificial noisemakers are not allowed.
-THS will provide fan bus information for high school students (grades 9-12) who are interested in attending the game.
-Thompson Athletics will provide fan bus information for the public. Follow THS Athletics on Facebook and Twitter for more details.