StuCo Announces Homecoming Dance Update

Rhiannon Folsom

GEHS’s beautiful homecoming candidates posing for a picture, with their smiles glowing.

Olivia Steele, Editor in Chief

After a few weeks of uncertainty, StuCo has confirmed that the homecoming dance is happening. The dance will take place on Saturday, October 2 from 8 – 10 p.m.

The dance is “going to be as normal as possible,” senior class representative Lindsay Cochran said. “There was definitely a lot of discussion regarding what Homecoming was going to look like. A lot of things that we were considering were Covid precautions and how we can still keep everyone safe and still give everyone a fun dance experience, especially for the seniors, who haven’t had a dance since sophomore year.”

The school’s administration had plenty of discussions with professionals about whether or not the dance should be put back on. 

“[We had] Conversations with the health department, conversations with other high schools, and then just medical people,” Activities Director Mr.  Michael Simpson said. “They told us we can do this as long as we [take precautions] and understand that if students are not masked, we could have quarantine issues. But if we wear masks and [take precautions] we should be okay.”

Many people had questions regarding whether or not masks were going to be enforced at the dance.

“Everyone will be wearing masks,” Cochran said. “Masks will be required to keep everyone safe and have an anti-Covid atmosphere.”

The pep assembly on Friday will also be indoors and masked, though only seniors will be allowed to attend. For the dance, additional precautions have been put in place.

“We’re going to have the lights on and that way we can see what’s going on,” Mr. Simpson said. “One of the concerns would be students coming to the dance – ‘Yeah, sure, we’ll wear our masks,’ but then it’s down or we take it off. With the lights on, we can see what’s happening. If there ends up being a problem, it’ll be very clear on the cameras, and we’ll know how to contact trace.”

Social distancing was also a concern amongst students, staff, and parents.

“We’ve got as big a space as we can find,” Mr. Simpson said. “We can’t get into the gym because there’s a volleyball tournament there that day, so we’re just using the commons and the new commons.” Water will also be provided through water bottles.

Homecoming king and queen candidates are also in as well – voting will take place through a Google Form emailed to students sometime this week, so keep an eye out. The winners will be announced Friday at the Homecoming football game.