For many students, Homecoming on Oct. 16 will mark the first schoolwide social event after 18 long months of social isolation.
In the past, Homecoming consisted of a dance held in the auxiliary gym with games and snacks in the cafeteria, but with COVID-19 restrictions, there is no certainty to what Homecoming will look like.
“You know when you’re in a virtual school setting for 18 months, it’s very hard to feel that sense of school spirit,” Litterst said. “You know, a couple of years ago, it was through the roof. But school for the last two years has been just a website that you have opened in the background while playing Minecraft.”
With many underclassmen not having experienced any sort of organized school event, Litterst said the Planning Committee has shown worry in student participation and attendance in Homecoming week festivities and to the dance.
“We’re still trying to figure it out, it’s gonna be split between indoors and outdoors and on Monday in leadership, we’re gonna figure out if we want the dance portion inside and the other activities outside, or if we want to flip that,” Leadership adviser Andrew Litterst said. “COVID-19 cautions still have to be taken indoors, you’ll have to wear masks, we’re going to encourage social distancing, with the understanding that it is a homecoming dance, [you] can’t just stay six feet apart if you’re trying to dance.”
Litterst said the leadership classes have made it an early priority to re-establish Marshall school spirit.
“Everything we’re planning is going to be over the top in a good way,” Leadership student and sophomore Samia Sayd said. “We hope to have prizes and other exciting new things that will encourage all grades, especially upperclassmen, to come to the dance.”