Student Council and Senior Class Board have a plan for the Homecoming assembly and dance: accommodate COVID mitigations by holding the events outdoors. 

COVID “numbers continue to decline” in our area, according to an email from Assistant Principal of Student Life and Operations Ryan Rubenstein that he sent to faculty on Wednesday.  Not only will both events move forward, but the administration changed the original Homecoming assembly plan to “bring [back] some student experiences that have been missed by many.”

Here is an update on both events and what else to look forward to this week. 

The Assembly 

The Homecoming assembly is planned to take place from 1:25-2:10pm on October 8, according to Rubenstein’s email. 

Originally the plan was to “have two assemblies outside, splitting it by juniors and seniors [during 8th period], and [then] by sophomores and freshmen [during 9th period],” Ryan Bohn, Student Council officer and member of Senior Class Board, said. If it rains, however, “we would do an indoor virtual assembly for all grades.” 

However, according to Rubenstein’s email, the assembly schedule will be implemented and there will be one assembly held outside in the football stadium. Students will be required to wear masks and sit in the bleachers. Those “who do not feel comfortable being outside in a large group,” according to Rubenstein’s email,  may go to the Learning Hub or Cafeteria. 

During the assembly, Bohn says there will be “a bunch of really awesome performers,” like the boys poms team and cheerleading team, and games. The homecoming royalty will also be announced during the assembly. 

“There will be one royalty winner from each grade and an additional [winner] from the senior class,” Bohn said. 

Although COVID has made it more difficult to plan for the homecoming assembly, Bohn says he is hopeful the preparations Student Council has made “well in advance” with careful thinking will go smoothly. 

“I think I’m most excited for the assembly just because I’ve been the most involved in planning,” Bohn said, “and I’m super excited for people to play [games], see the performances, and for [Student Council] to present the homecoming royalty.” 

The Dance

The Homecoming dance will be held outside, according to Jamie Cotton, Senior Class Board sponsor, from 5:30-7:30pm for juniors and seniors, and 8:00-10:00pm for freshmen and sophomores. 

“[The dance] is going to be under a big tent. Being outside, we can have our students be maskless and not have to worry too much about CDC guidelines,” Cotton said.

The dance will be between the tennis courts and the football field, Cotton said, with a “DJ [that] will be there throughout both sessions, very typical of the two years past where we had the stage, lights, and everything else.”

“We’ll have some decorations out there, too. I believe there will be some seating like [in] years past. I also believe there’ll be snacks for sale so that students can buy little niblets here and there,” she added. 

By making the dance similar to ones in past years, Cotton says she hopes students will be able to enjoy themselves after not being able to have any festivities last year.

“I think we’re going to do the best with what we have to offer and I think we’re being very creative with how we do it,” Cotton said. “We will love to have our students have the most normal year possible. A lot of great memories happen during these big events; we’d like to have that happen for students. [The] fact that we can just have a dance in general, I think is amazing. Obviously, it’s still not normal from what it used to be, but I think we’re doing the best we can in this situation.” 

Tickets for the dance are $25 per person and can be purchased at https://store.lz95.org/.