Following a year without school dances, Wilson will have an in-person homecoming on October 16 on the field.  

“Haunted Ball” is the theme of the event. The current plan is to have the dance from 8 to 11 p.m. Tickets will be sold in the weeks leading up to the dance, ranging from $10 to $20, based on when the ticket is purchased. To accommodate the pandemic, all participants will be required to wear a mask and the dance will take place outside. 

 A contract for social distancing and mask-wearing may also be required for students. Those who do not obey these requirements may be given one warning and then sent home. Only Wilson students will be allowed into the dance.

A group of students in Wilson’s SGA class have begun to plan this year’s homecoming dance. 

In order to spread out students, there will be other activities in the building besides the dance. “The main problem is we don’t want everyone crowded together,” senior and committee member Colin Lawless said.

 In addition to the dance, which likely will have a DJ, there will be outdoor games held on the stadium landing and horror movie showings in the auditorium for those 18 or older (or whose parents have signed a waiver).

The committee has not yet decided on food. They plan on running a poll to gauge students’ preference between a food trucks and a free option. 

Students’ well-being is one of the committee’s priorities. “We have a high priority for safety,” senior and committee member Reagan Allvin said. However, the constraints have also forced SGA members to reimagine homecoming. “We’ve had to expand our definition of a dance,” she continued.

Some students are apprehensive about the location of the dance. “I am not particularly excited for homecoming because the concept of having it on the field is going to be cold and uncomfortable,” junior Gabe Alexander said.

Senior Sophia Hinton is excited for homecoming. “[I am] looking forward to seeing everyone have a good time together after the pandemic, being a [grade] together and sharing something special,” Hinton said. 

This year’s dance will be very different from past homecomings. “There have been many constraints due to COVID,” SGA leader Simona Spicciani-Gerhardt said. •