Administration’s Workaround to Curtail COVID’s Cameo in Homecoming

Students+congregating+at+the+Memorial+Garden%2C+relaxing+outside+with+the+accompaniment+of+slow+music.

Students congregating at the Memorial Garden, relaxing outside with the accompaniment of slow music.

By Sadday Munoz

 

Masks on, flashy suits on, lights out and music booming — that’s how one could describe Homecoming 2021. Despite the difficulties of COVID-19 and last minute changes imposed by the school district, the Lane administration created what they hoped was a safe space for the students of Lane Tech to enjoy the homecoming dance while complying with COVID-19 restrictions on Sept. 25. 

Five days before the dance, Assistant Principal Sarah Hanly described the turmoil she experienced with these last minute changes.

“We had to create a different space indoors, then it got moved outdoors and now it’s moved back indoors. It’s been a little bit of a rough ride these past two days,” Hanly said.

Due to COVID-19 the administration had to come up with some new ideas to tackle restrictions.

“This year we thought, ‘What can we do to create as much space as possible with social distancing for the most part in place?’ And so that’s why we kind of decided to do this homecoming in the hallway thing,” Hanly said. 

She also mentioned one of the areas where students could hang around and enjoy the event. Hanly recalled the plan of having a DJ in front of the main office to provide more space for students to dance with their date or to hang around with their friends.

The administration didn’t plan this alone; they had assistance and constant involvement from the Student Council as well, according to Dayana Bautista, Student Council Vice President for the Class of 2022.

The Student Council committed hours to the planning, and even came up with a large majority of the theme for the event. They assisted in planning for the event as a whole, and Bautista pointed to the Memorial Garden as being one of the more creative parts of the planning decisions. 

“We decided on a secret garden theme for the Memorial Garden, and our sponsors said, ‘shoot for the stars’ and that’s what we did,” Bautista said. 

Aside from planning the event, the vice president went to homecoming and said she had a fun time. 

“I stayed by the reggaeton section in front of the main office, and I will say I had the most fun. Everyone was dancing and jumping up and down,” Bautista said. “It was definitely the section for me and my friends.  We were turnt the whole time.”

The reggaeton section was energetic throughout the whole dance, as students gathered with their friends and danced to the lively music. The cafeteria was used for group dancing, as it was large enough to hold students who wanted to dance with their friends. Sometimes the atmosphere would be so chaotic that mosh pits would form, but were quickly dispersed by the security on standby. The Memorial Garden was a serene area where the students would gather and talk, as a way for people to catch their breath from the lively scenes in the cafeteria and near the main office. 

Regardless of whether this version, with multiple dancing locations, will become the new norm or not, this homecoming was one to remember.