On Oct. 1, North’s Homecoming festivities will commence for the first time since 2019 though the traditions that students and staff have come to know will look different this year.
On Friday, students will attend the annual pep rally at the end of the school day. In years past, students have gathered in the upper gym and cheered as their classmates performed. This year, the pep rally will take place outside.
“I think doing the pep rally outside is going to be awesome. If something good comes from this, I may want to do the pep rally outside every year. I think this has the potential to be really, really good,” said STUCO sponsor Bob McKitrick.
Though it goes somewhat unnoticed in the lead-up to Homecoming weekend, the pep rally is often a fan favorite thanks in large part to its detailed planning by Student Council.
“The kids that are doing the dance battles for the pep rally really had to put it together last minute, and I’m so impressed with what I’ve seen so far. I have to give those kids a ton of credit because I think they’re going to put on a great show,” said McKitrick.
“We’re very excited to have the pep rally again because it was a big hit last time. Mr. Jones said he’s open to being involved in the pep rally, which I’m really looking forward to,” said STUCO social media manager senior Mia Ham.
Though they spent a lot of time and effort in planning the pep rally, Student Council’s primary feat was planning the Homecoming dance. This year, the preparations began with the setting of the dance, which was an inordinately challenging obstacle since it couldn’t be in an enclosed space.
“The district got together and met, and we were told sometime in the last week of August, ‘you can have [a dance], but it has to be outside,’” said McKitrick. “[Because of this], we didn’t [start] planning until the end of August which is about a month behind [schedule].”
Once it was decided that the dance would be held outside, several other decisions had to be weighed included how to light the dance, what would happened if it rained, etc.
“Initially we were told that we would have to have the big lights on, but that would’ve killed the vibe because it would’ve been super bright. We got permission to have some small floodlights and the big screen on which will make it look like a dance atmosphere,” said student body president senior Kushal Patel.
Though Student Council planned everything as intricately as possible, some things are simply out of their control. The weather is the chief concern, but even if it rains, STUCO formulated a plan to combat that.
“We got permission that, if it does rain, we can move the dance inside, but we would all have to wear masks,” said McKitrick. “We’re going to do everything we can to have it outside.”
Homecoming will look different, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Student Council has done everything within their power to make Homecoming 2021 as safe and as fun as possible.
Tickets for the dance are on sale for $10 in the bookstore. Tickets will not be sold at the gate.