Wadsworth High School’s homecoming is fast approaching. The dance is scheduled for October 5, 2024. Tickets will be sold for $20 each and the dance will begin at 7:30 p.m. and conclude at 10 p.m. Planning for homecoming starts as soon as May of the previous school year.
“Picking a theme, ordering decorations, booking a DJ, all this stuff has got to be done months in advance,” said Charles Hamilton, one of the Wadsworth High School Student Council advisors.
However, that doesn’t mean that planning and preparations slow down as homecoming approaches.
The theme for Homecoming is ultimately picked by executive board members; however, students still get a poll each year to see what themes are in higher demand than others.
“We try to include the student body in as much of the decisions as possible,” Hamilton said.
The number of votes that came in from students wanting The Great Gatsby theme was described as “overwhelming’.
The Student Council has started prepping the decorations for Homecoming. While the decorations are ordered quite a bit in advance, they are not set up until the week of the actual dance.
“For decorating, we usually have a whole meeting that is just for blowing up balloons and making decorations,” said Mason Willmott, a Student Council member.
Balloons are specifically one of the things that take up a large amount of time in the decorating process.
“I think the best part is just setting up all the decorations with all our friends, we are all friends in Student Council. But I would also say the worst part is setting up decorations, there is just so much to do,” said Hannah Tefteller, another student council member.
The Student Council also creates the playlist for Homecoming. Usually, the council will reach out to the student body for suggestions, but with the busy planning schedule, they were not able to this year.
“Everything’s got to be school-appropriate, we got to have all the clean versions, if a bad word gets thrown out there we get in trouble,” Hamilton said.
However, a trickier part than setting up the playlist is finding a person to play the music. The DJ is also found usually earlier on in the planning of Homecoming. There are requirements the DJ must fit which can be difficult.
“Finding a DJ who can fit with our time, is board approved, and who can work with our schedule and budget is very difficult,” Willmott said.
There is very little time and a lot to do for the student council. They have to put together spirit weeks as well and make sure to create an exciting pep rally.
“It’s all pretty rewarding,” Hamilton said. “The worst part is when you hear from the kids they didn’t like something or the DJ was lame and the decorations weren’t good because we spent so much time so to hear negative feedback, that’s rough. But when we get compliments that’s probably the best part. If somebody says like ‘the dance was great’ or ‘the pep rally was the best one I’ve ever seen’ it makes it feel like it was all worthwhile.”
