Underclassmen used to sit and wait for their turn to be active members of the student body, while juniors and seniors ran the show. Now, dressing up on theme days and sitting in the student section has become something all classes can join in, instead of upperclassmen asserting all their power.

The school has already advanced in their unification goal. Underclassmen have already participated this year in other events, even more things will begin to change as the years progress.

“Not many people went [to homecoming] and prom was the main dance,” Dever said. “From my own experiences, I’ve never had a bad time at Homecoming. I’ve gone every year since I was a freshman and every year, I’ve had a blast. I’ve always personally loved homecoming and all the school dances. I think going into it, I was a little skeptical whether it was really going to be any fun but I’ve always had a good time.”

According to Dever, he has already noticed differences this year between the improving relationship of the underclassmen and upperclassmen. However, Dever also compares his earlier relationships with upperclassmen during events like Homecoming week and the Homecoming dance.

“During my earlier years, I would really worry about what other people thought,” Dever said. “As I became more of an upperclassman, I really didn’t care and it was actually a lot more fun that way.”

This year, Student Council has been unifying the school and encouraging more underclassmen to become more involved within the school in events like Homecoming week, which is something that is completely new, according to Dever.

“The [underclassmen] are going to be a lot more comfortable, even just walking through the hallways,” Kalynn Rhew, junior and student council officer, said. “Now that they’re allowed to dress up and things like that, they feel like they’re more a part of the school and the student section too. They’re a lot more involved now.”

New students like, Jillian Baffa, freshman, feel more comfortable knowing that they will slowly become more acknowledged within the school and social events.

“I definitely think more [underclassmen] will come [to homecoming] because I feel that we’ll be more accepted into the school,” Baffa said. “They don’t have to worry or be nervous about the upperclassmen making fun of them or judging them.”

According to Baffa, she and other underclassmen are very excited to become more part of the school at Homecoming and during the year.

“There’s going to be so many more people getting involved with the dance. At the middle school, people were just awkward but people here really know what’s going on,” Baffa said. “Everyone seems to be more comfortable and I think that’s going to be really good for everyone, including the [underclassmen].”

As the times are changing, freshmen students like Baffa are able to go to events like homecoming comfortably, without feeling criticized, according to Rhew.

However, Dever still advises freshmen to “not worry about the people around you. Just stay with your friends and have fun with it. Don’t sit and worry about other people around you judging you or judging your dance moves. Just remember to have fun with it.”