Spirit week is an exciting time for all students and staff with many fun activities to attend and themes to dress up for.
The homecoming dance takes place during the Friday of spirit week. It is a night where high school students get to put on their fancy clothes and celebrate the beginning of the school year together.
This year, homecoming was held in the dining commons of the school, which is different from last year considering the dance was in the gym.
One concern that is not talked about enough amongst the school is the question on if students from other schools should be allowed to attend our homecoming dance.
With this issue not being verbalized enough throughout our students and staff, that means it is not heard about throughout everyone in the building, causing some confusion on why this is a rule.
Mrs. Erhardt’s Thoughts
“There was a time they could come, and it turned into a safety and management issue. There weren’t enough adults to manage everyone,” says Mrs. Erhardt, the principal at Pentucket.
Mrs. Erhardt has feelings about both sides of the issue. While understanding that it frustrates many students, she also knows how difficult it is for staff to manage every student that walks into the dance. Their compromise was allowing students to bring students from other schools to prom instead.
“I’m not saying it can’t happen, but at this point it can’t happen,” Erhardt says in response to being asked if there is a possibility that this rule could eventually change in the near future.
Last year, Mrs. Erhardt did not have many students bring up this topic to her. She stated about five students came up to her asking if they were allowed to bring someone, and she had to say no. She acknowledged that she felt and understood how students may feel about this, but she also expressed that there was nothing that she could do about it.
Like the banquets, Mrs. Erhardt is determined to make our events fun and enjoyable for everyone, however, there are some things that she cannot control at these events.
Student Thoughts
After asking ten students, nine of them said they do not like this rule. Only one student thinks it makes sense, but they all still consider this unfair and do not understand why this rule is necessary.
Savannah LaRiviere, a senior at Pentucket, even had the idea of needing signed permission slips as an approval from the school.
“I find it very annoying. As a student who has a significant other at a different school, it is very hard and annoying when we see our friends with their dates and we cannot bring ours, ” says a senior who enthusiastically expressed her feelings towards this topic.
A Pentucket sophomore said, “It is not a safety issue if there is a security checkpoint and they have an ID that says the school they’re from. Also, Pentucket is a small school compared to other schools so there are less people for people to be in relationships.” Therefore, there would only be a small number of outside students attending our homecoming.
Conclusion
Mrs. Erhardt knows how frustrating it can be for some students when they cannot bring their friends or significant others to our homecoming. But at the same time, there is not a lot she can do about the issue at the current moment, or the near future. With not enough staff to care for every student that attends the dance, it may be a long time before other schools can come to our homecoming.
