Students anticipate a space themed homecoming dance.
by Callia Peterson ’22
In anticipation for the Homecoming dance, students are buying dresses and suits to fit the occasion, designing posters to advertise the event, asking their peers to accompany them as dates and are voting their favorite seniors to Homecoming Court.
On Sept. 21, Student Council will throw an “Out of this World” space themed dance with several activities, snacks and a meticulously crafted playlist for the student body to enjoy.
Alex Criss, senior and one of the Co-Student Council Presidents, said Student Council originally voted for an Area 51 theme, alluding to the viral Twitter joke where hundreds of thousands of people signed on to a Facebook event that mapped out a plan to “storm Area 51” on a quest to discover the “aliens they are hiding.” Twitter blew up with jokes and comments about the “raid” set to take place on Sept. 20, the day before the Homecoming dance.
“Our original idea was Area 51, and that won,” Criss said. “But then [our adviser] talked to us and said, ‘Hey, if people do die in the raid, like not saying that’s going to happen, or the raid is even going to happen, but we can’t have everybody celebrating the raid.’ So we changed it to space because it’s [similar].”
Criss also said that it is the “50th anniversary of the moon landing,” which also “fits in well with [the theme].”
Once Student Council chose a theme, they reached out to media arts teacher Melissa Haines to see if her design students could make a poster to advertise the dance.
“Student Council approached us with their theme and I passed it on to my advanced students to design posters,” Haines said. “They were given one week and had key elements [about the dance].”
Haines said her students used different platforms to create their posters, like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
Senior Ellie Hartranft’s poster was chosen.
“The poster was chosen by the officers, who are all seniors, and together they decided on which one they thought represented what they wanted Homecoming to be,” said Kim Brown, Student Council adviser. “I think they like the font [Hartranft used]. They also liked what it looked like with all the planets in the background.”
Student Council plans to have myriad detailed decorations and themed activities for the dance. The decorations include black lights and galaxy lights in the gym and a blackout entrance with lasers. There will also be a photo booth, Wii game center, bounce house, and a velcro wall in the auditorium lobby.
Criss said she hopes the activities will increase turnout and incentivize students to stay longer at the dance.
“We don’t have a ton of participation and students,” Criss said. “But we’re working on a good playlist so kids will really enjoy the music and dance, and we are also making the activities at the dance fun so people are willing to stay longer than 15 minutes, which happens a lot.”
Students can purchase tickets for $28. Criss said the dance acts as Student Council’s main fundraiser for the year.
“The profits we make at Homecoming are what we use to give grants to students, help pay fees for volunteering events and buy T-shirts for the club,” Criss said. “[The money] goes back to the school.”
The dance will occur from 8 to 11 p.m., with no admittance after 9:45 p.m.
Will Reynolds, Criss’s Co-President of Student Council, encourages students to attend the dance.
“Go to homecoming and have a fun time and just make it the best,” Reynolds said. “It’s homecoming, it happens once a year, so just have fun with it.”