We remember watching in awe as the seniors dressed up in costumes, each day’s get-ups more elaborate than the last, all culminating in a flurry of school pride at the end of the week. We remember listening to the seniors screaming their graduation years in the halls, their voices piercing through the usual buzz, and we couldn’t help but get excited for our turn.

In our freshman year we began counting the days until our senior spirit week would happen. And then it didn’t. 

For most students, going to Lane Tech is a crucial part of our identity, and Homecoming, the week-long party where we can celebrate this identity, has been cut short.

When the Chicago Teachers Union went on strike, it caused district-wide scheduling fiascos. For our Lane community, that meant an Oktoberfest in November, if at all, and most significantly, a seemingly constantly shifting Homecoming and a shortened Spirit Week.

While other CPS and suburban schools had their homecoming in mid-September, Lane students will bundle up and brave the snow in order to show their school spirit in mid-November.

We understand that administration and Student Council did their best to accommodate a Homecoming week after the strike, but we question why we had to schedule Homecoming for after the strike in the first place. 

It’s not like the administration didn’t know there was going to be a strike, and there were plenty of football games and warm fall days in early October. 

Additionally, the games for the past two years have been scheduled for Saturdays, with a claim that they are “easier” for everyone to attend, particularly alumni and family.

However, moving games to Saturday has done nothing but inconvenience students and honestly, it makes no sense. 

What is the point of having a pep rally on Friday during the school day when the game itself is on a Saturday? The whole point of a pep rally is to get everyone “pepped” for the game, which would occur that same day. 

Staying at school late on the night of the game and going bowling at Waveland or picking up pizza from Pi-Hi to pass time are some of the best parts of Homecoming. 

But now that the games are on a Saturday, attending them is entirely out of the question for some students, because there are prior weekend commitments, finalized work schedules and a lack of transportation. 

Additionally, the shortened Spirit Week is one of the most significant issues with this Homecoming schedule.

The original Spirit Week was set for four days, leaving students with a celebration cut one day short. Seniors were initially upset about this because they wanted their full five days, but because of the strike and no-school November, Spirit Week was cut down to three days. 

Thus, the senior Spirit Week tradition, which is meant to be within a span of a week, was crammed into just two days: Toga Tuesday and Hawaiian Wednesday.

While we are upset about the way Spirit Week has turned out, we want to recognize the student representatives for the Student Council and Executive Board, who were given the task of organizing a Spirit Week that they likely did not want or agree with. 

There were no simple solutions to the Homecoming conundrum and we appreciate that administration and Student Council did the best they can to make everybody happy.

Nothing can be done to change the fact that Homecoming is now in November and that, at this point, we have to just take what is given. 

But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have a right to be disappointed. Our senior class was robbed of a rich Lane tradition that gives students a sense of belonging to their class. 

While we can’t do anything but make the best out of our shortened Spirit Week, we would like to propose an additional senior Spirit Week during the week leading up to Decision Day, in which seniors are able to celebrate their high achievement through a full week of themed dress-up days. 

Current students and their ideas should be taken into consideration above all else. There is no high school do-over.

Staff Editorials represent the majority view of The Warrior’s Editorial Board.