First school dance of the year draws sizable crowd despite covid accommodations

 The annual North Harford Homecoming dance took place on October 9 with a theme of Under the Sea. After not having the event last year, new accommodations were made so the students were able to attend the dance this year.

     In order to attend the dance, students had to wear a mask and either provide proof of being vaccinated or take a school-provided Covid test the Monday before the dance. There were also no outside guests allowed at the dance again due to Covid restrictions. 

     After speculation about where the event was going to be held, the dance was held inside the cafeteria like in year’s past. Some students were hoping for the dance to be outside so they would not have to wear a mask.

      Some students were unhappy with  the accommodations that were made this year. Due to these accommodations some students decided to not attend the school dance and only attend the parent homecoming. Junior Piper Wright did not go due to the requirement that needed to be met to go to the dance “I am not vaccinated and did not want to get tested nor did I want to go to a dance where we needed to wear a mask the whole time.”

    Some student athletes were encouraged not to go to the dance by their coaches who feared that attending the dance might unnecessarily put them or their team at risk.

 Jackson Schocket said, “I was told not to go by my football coach. He was concerned that someone at the dance would end up getting Covid and then me and other people that went on the team would have to quarantine. He did not want us to miss out on our season.” 

         After last year other students were happy to attend the dance. They wanted to have a fun time with friends and enjoy having a normal high school experience. Junior Cole Younger said, “I wanted to go and my friends asked me to go so why not. I wanted to have a good and fun time with my friends. It was a lot of fun to hang out during the dance.” Junior Elijah Brown added, “I decided to go because I was going with my girlfriend along with a few of my friends. I enjoyed hanging out with my friends and seeing all of them during the dance.”

     Some others went because it was something to do and an event where they could dress up. Junior Rileigh Crawford said, “Freshman year was a lot of fun, and it was just something to look forward to. I just enjoyed being there with my friends and dressing up.”