Fog machines, lights, and interactive surprises are changes students can look forward to this year at the Homecoming dance; however, these are not the only changes, this year the homecoming king and queen will be announced at the dance.

Sally Phillip, activities director, explains the reasoning behind the changes. “It was done for two reasons. One is so that people could vote after they have seen everybody’s skit at the pep rally because sometimes I think that changes people’s minds, how creative kids are and how good the skits are,” Phillip said.

According to Stephanie Hiffman, Varsity Club sponsor, they have been discussing this topic for a long time due to attendance issues. “Last year really was sort of the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Hiffman said.  Last year at the dance, the juniors were poorly represented.  A focus group was created, in order to figure out a way to keep this year’s seniors at the dance.

Last year, some court members showed up late to the dance or showed up and then immediately left. There were also alternate homecoming dances thrown at other people’s houses.

“King and queen need to be picked based on their devotion to the school and how their spirit is how serious they are about his position,” Phillips said.

A challenge seen by Phillip is allowing the parents to see their son or daughter being crowned.  Varsity Club is thinking about broad streaming the crowning during the dance to compensate for this.

Hiffman believes that the change is necessary for the sake of the dance.“Just try and keep the tradition alive, so it doesn’t all of a sudden become cool to ditch dances,” Hiffman said.

Shelby Halloran, senior, sees the announcement at the pep rally as a tradition that should be kept. “It upsets me. It has been a tradition to watch the skits and then everyone there to hear the announcement of king and queen,” Halloran said.