Homecoming?

Souce: Pexels

By: Tej Ashworth, Camilo Munera, and Diego Rodriguez 

Last year, Homecoming was canceled and this year, it is still in the air. It’s been said that it’s not going to happen, however the Class of 2022 seniors at WHS are fighting for one. As of recently, there has been a creation of a senior day in lieu of a pep rally. 

To be honest, information on homecoming was easy to find, it wasn’t as difficult of a question to answer as it was thought to be.  An answer you all may not like, but an answer nonetheless.    

We talked to Ross Tine, class president of the senior class of 2022, who has been spearheading this movement to represent everyone. By far he has proven himself to be a capable leader, being by the students, for the students in an attempt to get us seniors anything close to a Homecoming, even if we cannot have a proper one. 


When talking to Ross, we got a lot of insight into the inner workings of what was going on. There were a lot of questions asked, and an excellent conversation was held. We learned that an overall budget was to be determined and that the ideal location would be in the cafeteria as normal. Senior Day wouldn’t replace Homecoming, just the pep rally. When asked about senior day, Tine said, “It’s meant to be a time of fun for the seniors. I thought it would be amazing to have a day just for us.” 

Senior Day was held on Cottone field on Wednesday, Oct. 14, with games and activities for seniors include a lunch on the patio of Cottone. 

We also talked to the principal, Mrs. O’Connor, about the possibility of a homecoming. O’Connor told us about the possibility of a traditional homecoming. “The difficulty is that the rules we currently have on us [with COVID], take away normal.” 

It is no secret that schools all around are having homecomings, so what prevents us from having a homecoming? Well, the principal had addressed this: “We are operating under a strict interpretation of COVID guidelines.” 
 
However with an uptick in cases and a new COVID variant, O’Connor said, “It makes it difficult to say ‘let’s have a homecoming.’”

The takeaway is that, with COVID, with having strict guidelines, having a homecoming inside would be difficult. The only way we could have a homecoming is if the school dishes out the money to get the tents, the heaters, the food, the DJ, and that is just not in the budget. O’Connor said, “With outside events comes a lot of expense. It’s a heavy logistical burden, and monetary burden, and all the money that used to exist for the budget during COVID doesn’t exist. ”  

Something like a homecoming, while usually it has minimal budget attached to it, now would have a prom-like expense.  Between cost, COVID, and weather, it’s safe to say that there is barely a chance for a homecomingthis year, but let’s just be glad that we can still have the senior picnic and prom still.
    

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