Homecoming: Just Another Fetch?

It’s not that the homecoming season is not successful in its entirety. The opposite, in fact. The annual football game and Senior Dress Up Day have always had huge turnouts. What doesn’t seem to work is the actual dance itself. When asking students about their opinions on homecoming, a common opinion was that many don’t attend due to the junior and senior proms, with freshman Pilar Ortuño stating that, “I think the homecoming dance has such a bad reputation because it compares poorly to the junior and senior proms,” emphasizing the better appeal and heightened funding of those dances. She also added that “...mostly the freshmen go to the homecoming dance, which can give it the aspect of being lame.” 

On a similar note, junior Abby Meyers noted that “in a lot of ways, homecoming is similar to prom, but GHS doesn’t really allocate that kind of budget towards it.” She also believed that changing certain aspects of homecoming could be beneficial, suggesting “...something as simple as changing the dress code could help. While I had fun going freshman and sophomore year, it’s just not super fun to have a school dance with sneakers and casual clothes. I think having homecoming in a more formal setting, like in the student center dressed up, would be a lot more appealing.” 

On the other hand, in regards to Homecoming Week as a whole, students seem to view it positively, all the while agreeing that the dance was the school’s weak point, with a student asserting that “spirit week is a lot of fun but homecoming has never been anything special.” This opinion seems to be shared by a lot of students, as one can clearly see many participating in the Spirit Day Themes throughout the week--and let’s not forget Senior Dress Up Day, which is always a huge success. 

As Pilar Ortuño explained, “I think the GHS homecoming as a whole is a very good idea and is a nice way to start out the year. However, spirit week and the dance are much less emphasized than the football game. The homecoming game is seen as the biggest attraction regarding homecoming. To even out the disparity, the school could raise more awareness of spirit week and the dance and emphasize them more,” while also adding, “I don’t think there is much to do about the dance itself without adding excess costs.”

So, what should change?

Asking the school to allocate more funds for homecoming might not be the solution, especially since it does not necessarily guarantee a greater student turnout. Regardless, the fact remains that homecoming is an event that is unacknowledged by the majority of GHS students, and if GHS wants to truly build a sense of community and school spirit, improving the homecoming dance should be a top priority. So, considering this, what can the school do?

As Pilar Ortuño and Abby Meyers suggested, simple things, such as a greater advertisement or making small changes to the event, might make the dance more appealing to students. Beyond that, one only has to compare the dance to homecomings at other schools, where they’ll see a noticeable difference. For instance, many schools have a specific theme for their homecoming dances, which changes each year--as evidenced by the increased trend of announcing themes on TikTok. Incorporating a theme, or maybe even having a “competition” of sorts--such as having kids interested in electronic music hosting a friendly DJing competition--could encourage more students to attend, regardless of grade level. Even something as simple as conducting a school-wide survey, asking kids what they would change about the dance, might make the dance a better experience. The fact remains that, at its core, homecoming is the same every year, discouraging older students from attending, especially in the wake of the proms. Adding unique aspects each year would make the dance more appealing, and might significantly increase student turnout. 

However, according to Karen Foster, Director of Student Activities, GHS has already worked towards trying to increase student interest in homecoming. As Ms. Foster explained, “...in previous years, GHS has actively asked for suggestions on what type of dance/theme students would like or if they would prefer an alternative activity. However, there has been little response from the student body…the lack of student input and engagement in the planning process has made it difficult to implement changes.” It seems that even the GHS staff are of the opinion that the homecoming dance should be changed in order to encourage more students to attend, but the fact that students are unwilling to express their opinions beyond the fact that the dance is lackluster will ultimately result in no progress being made. Perhaps making these surveys more accessible--for instance, having students answer it during an Advisor Base--might solve this problem, but it seems that only time will tell if this will be the case. 

After all, it’s as Ms. Foster expressed: “Continued efforts to involve students in the planning process, even if initial responses are low, will hopefully increase interest in the event. As more students attend and have positive experiences, word-of-mouth could help shift perceptions of the Homecoming dance…People get out of an event what they put into it. If the students have an open mind and positive attitude, they are more likely to enjoy themselves. These events offer unique opportunities to connect with peers, create lasting memories, and engage in the high school experience.”

In the end, it all depends on how GHS--and perhaps most importantly, the students--work towards changing the dance, and creating a school culture worthy of the high school movies that we all know and love. Who knows, with a few tweaks, it might even become one of the biggest events of the school year. 

Or this might just be wishful thinking, like Gretchen Wieners’ “fetch” in what is perhaps the most popular high school party movie of all time--“Stop trying to make [homecoming] happen!”