There was no parade, football game or homecoming court. It was not even the fall. But, last month, Chapel Hill High School held its first homecoming dance in over 20 years.
Student Government originally scheduled the dance for October 13 but had to postpone it due to Hurricane Florence.
Senior Nicole Bell, the Student Government president, was determined to make the dance happen despite the weather.
“[Student Government] did not want to give up on the idea because we had such positive feedback the first time,” Bell said. “We did a lot of brainstorming to see what people would want to have at the dance and tried to ask our senators for ideas.”
Principal Charles Blanchard said he was more than happy to help Student Government members when they presented ideas for the dance, rescheduled for February 2.
“I think part of my role as principal is to support student ideas and teacher ideas, and one of the big pieces of feedback I got from students when I got here was that we used to have some events like TigerFest and dances, and we hadn’t had those in a while,” Blanchard said. “We can’t dance and party every day, but we certainly need to find times where we can do fun things and improve school spirit.”
Student Government, with the help of Parent Teacher Association volunteers, transformed the B-building commons into a dance floor. At the entrance was a yellow and black balloon arch. A black tarp decorated with white string lights was hanging from the ceiling. The cafeteria had a wall for taking pictures with props and tables filled with donated snacks and drinks.
“They transformed the gym lobby into a really nice setting to have a dance. You couldn’t even recognize it as a gym lobby,” Blanchard said.
Unlike prom, the homecoming dance was open to all students. About 145 students bought tickets to the dance and almost all of them attended.
“We struggled with diversity at the dance, but that is something that we will be working towards for Tigerfest,” Bell said.
Teacher chaperones volunteered their time to attend the dance and supervise students. English teacher Bradley Mitchell, who chaperoned, thought the dance was special.
“It was fun to see a lot of kids from different grades be able to get together and enjoy themselves in a stress-free way, and to offer them the opportunity to have a rather inexpensive dance in comparison to prom,” Mitchell said.
Sophomore Nathan Ring thought the dance was evidence of increased school pride during the 2018-19 year.
“I think that there was a lot of school spirit present, and everybody was having a good time. [Our school] really felt like one big group,” Ring said.
The atmosphere of the dance pleased senior Leo Tun.
“What was special about the dance was the enthusiasm and participation from the student body,” Tun said. “No other event includes all the classes, and it was nice that everyone was welcome. It made me proud to be a Tiger, and I hope others felt that way.”
