Homecoming was here, and sooner than ever. This year the dance fell on September 13, nearly a month sooner than last year. The Bell staff had mixed opinions on the topic, but the majority said they didn’t mind the early date.

Student Council started planning before the first day of school, deciding on the theme to get things started. This year’s theme, “The Way Of The Blue Jay,” was chosen to increase school spirit and kick things off. The date serves as a ‘welcome back’ (‘coming home’) to the school, which some members of staff love. With the theme and the early date, staff is hoping that we’ll have a lot of school spirit early on.

Some of the staff think early homecoming is a good idea due to the weather. Having the dance in early September made for warmer weather whereas past dances in October have often been rainy and cold. So despite the early date, everyone could at least leave the coats at home.

It’s nice to actually know the date of the dance. This year, all anyone had talked about the first week of school was homecoming. There’s so much excitement around the idea of an early homecoming and from the start, I heard many, “Wait, homecoming is WHEN?” As the date got sooner, there was more and more buzz about the date, a lot due to panic.

On the other hand, the staff felt that the date was stressful. The pressure was on early; some finding dates and dresses before school even started. The staff says this influenced their decision on attending the dance; too much planning in too little time.

Some freshmen have expressed their nervousness about the early dance, explaining that they’re still so new to this school and haven’t gotten a chance to get to know everyone yet. Because of this, it’s even harder to find a date… some of the freshmen staff also explained that they had never experienced Homecoming before, so they didn’t really care about the early date. They also clarified that they didn’t have to go with a date to have a good time.

A member of our staff that is on the football team says that he actually likes the early homecoming. Due to the early date, they were able to access game film earlier. This gave them a chance to watch film and prepare much earlier than previous years. On the other hand, some student council members on time have crunched time. Not only do they plan the dance, they also decorate, plan and host the carnival, fence decorating, and royalty.

Despite the mixed opinions and frantic searching of the perfect date and dress, our staff was pretty accepting of the early Homecoming