For the first time since the banning of school dances in 2014, the student council was able to organize a Homecoming Dance on Friday, October 25 at 8:30. The council had to work with the administration to provide and ensure a safe but fun event.

School dances were taken away from students in 2014 due to some behavioral issues the administration had to take care of.

“[The current student council] is a group that we trust very much, and they’ve earned this opportunity to have it, and so they submitted a proposal to me about those things and we were able to sign off on it and move forward with it,” Principal Evan Bishop said

Because of some students’ desire for the return of dances, the administration tried to bring some of them back last year.

“I’m really happy to see the last two dances that we’ve had were fun, spirited, and safe for everyone. I think [the dances] have been really successful,” Mr. Bishop said.

The administration worked with the student council to provide a safe environment for the dances. Some aspects included more lighting, approved playlists, and more chaperones.

“Everything we asked the students to do, they’ve been able to do,” Mr. Bishop said. “So when they asked about having it this year after either football or volleyball game, we were very supportive of that.”

One of the most notable changes to the dances include when the dance was held. This year, the dance was held right after a volleyball game with free admission to whoever attended the game.

“It’s a really good idea to encourage participation because I think a lot of kids see it as a dual opportunity. Now they’re going to a volleyball game AND a dance, so it makes it much more appealing option, and I think that it fires up the student body a little bit more,” said Class President of 2020 Drew Rancatore.

While getting approval from the administration is a challenge by itself, the student council also have to rely on student participation their energy to attend the dances.

“We need to have a committed student base. When you have the will of the people on your side, the administration is more likely to listen,” Rancatore said. “It just makes it a lot easier to convince the administration that we are capable of handling a dance.”

To get more students interested in the dances, the student council brainstormed different ideas for future dances. One of them was experimenting with different themes. The Homecoming Dance was themeless because of pep rally, but in the spring of 2019, post-prom had a county fair-like theme.

“There’s plenty of stuff to experiment with, like white-out, under the sea, or other kinds of themes we’ll figure out later on,” Rancatore said.