What is homecoming? Ever since Homecoming began in 1910, it has been a time for alumni and underclassmen to “come home” to watch football and engage in the year’s first dance. As the name implies, these homecoming dances have always been “at home”. So shouldn’t the dances now be “at home” instead of at another venue?

“We had it in the gym, we would take off our shoes and wear socks and we called it a sock hop. We had homecoming at school because it was cheap, fun and we felt closer but we held prom somewhere else,” said teacher Cheryl Foster.

It feels that in order to grasp the true concept of coming home, we should have our homecoming at the school. However, many students would not want to attend the homecoming dance unless it was away. As the years progress, it seems as if the whole concept of homecoming is no longer about welcoming alumni and celebrating the fall, but rather seeing who has the most school spirit and who is crowned King and Queen.

“Having it over here is just a reminder that we go here every day,” said senior Rowan Allen.

So how would having a homecoming at home differ from having one away? The cost of renting out a nice venue away from campus would exceed that of the overall cost of a dance at home. The venue alone is several thousand dollars. And having a homecoming dance away from campus puts an enormous amount of stress on the homecoming committee as they now must worry about the venue and movement of decorations in addition to the rest of the things that go along with homecoming.

“[Planning is] incredibly stressful. It’s like juggling kittens while walking on chainsaws. It cost $6,000 for facility and $3,000 for catering, not counting security or parking and we get the bill after which if approximately another $2,000. Decorations are also a big thing and cost $7,000 and the DJ was $900 or upwards $1,000. All of this also involves detailed paperwork and security clearances. No one can be on sight without being cleared by the county. All of this however, pays off exponentially because it’s an even that the kids will hopefully enjoy and remember,” said SGA adviser and homecoming planner Toni Guida.

Having homecoming at home would benefit a lot of people as it would be much closer and safer for many students and faculty and people who would not normally be able to afford a ticket, would be able to go. It creates a feeling of family and being at home, so having a dance at home would be able to bring us back to the traditional concepts of comings home and togetherness that is much needed in high schools today.