Homecoming season is a popular and exciting time of year, and there are so many events that take place, such as the dance, spirit week, and the football game. The Lake Highlands Student Council plans most of the festivities, but how do they plan the dance?
The Homecoming Dance Theme and Spirit Week
About a month before homecoming, a Google form is sent to the whole student body to vote on a theme for the dance. The student council leadership team and officers choose the themes on the ballot by student requests and looking at the past year’s themes.
“We don’t want the theme to be something that was similar to a theme done in the past 3 years. A lot of the themes on the ballot come from ideas that were very close to winning in past years,” explained Ginger Wells (12), the president of the student council.
Once the themes are chosen, StuCo sends out the ballot, and the one with the most votes wins. This year’s theme is Songs and Cinema.
The spirit week days are chosen by the StuCo leadership team and officers. They discuss different ideas with their sponsor, Erin Chesal.
“Red Ribbon Week is around the same time as homecoming so we try to plan different days to avoid repeating theme days,” said Alexandra Wagliardo (12), the vice president.
Decorating the HUB
It takes about 4-5 hours to decorate for the dance. The student council leadership team decorates the HUB the morning before the dance.
“[Last year], the leadership team got to school at 8 A.M. on Saturday and didn’t leave until around 1 P.M.,” Wells stated.
It takes about the same amount of time to decorate for spirit week and they decorate the HUB for it a week before.
“We try to really go all out with decorations for homecoming to make the HUB look extra special,” Wells explained.
Any decorations that can be made themselves are made during the StuCo leadership class period, such as the posters for spirit week. Any other decorations are chosen and ordered with the help of Mrs. Chesal. Currently, the StuCo leadership team is trying to hire someone to make a canvas poster with the theme to put in the HUB.
The Music at the Dance
The DJ has to play non-explicit music for the dance. The music is chosen by student council members and the student body. Last year, Mrs. Chesal gave each member on student council a form to fill out with 20 clean songs and they made a playlist for the DJ with the collected songs. StuCo also sent out a Google form to the whole student body for any songs that anyone would like to hear at the dance.
What Does the Ticket and T-Shirt Money Go Towards?
Each year, StuCo sells homecoming tickets and T-shirts in the HUB during lunches the week leading up to the dance. Last year, Wagliardo estimated that they made $1,600 from ticket and T-shirt sales.
Once they pay for the decorations and DJ for homecoming, the money goes towards other student council expenses, such as the Favorites Dance that StuCo hosts in February, service projects, tailgates, field trips, and other beneficial activities for the students.
