This year’s homecoming was a smashing success! Despite the challenges of holding a dance during the pandemic, Flint Hill’s SCA threw an exciting dance that rivaled previous years. The dance, held in the Learning Commons, was attended by students from every grade and enjoyed immensely. However, the hard work behind the scenes often goes unnoticed. Omer Aziz-Quintana, a junior on the SCA, helped illuminate some of the many challenges of hosting the Homecoming dance this year.

“A major issue was whether or not we could have guests,” says Aziz-Quintana, highlighting one of the more disputed issues over this year’s dance. Traditionally, students from other schools have been allowed to attend Flint Hill’s homecoming dance with little concern; however, this process had to be changed to protect student safety. This year, students were allowed to take guests only if they had a parent’s signature, the signature of their school’s head administrator, and proof of their vaccination status. This policy ensured that guests wouldn’t threaten Flint Hill’s students’ health and safety. Aziz-Quintana described the process of approving this measure as, in his words, “constantly going back and forth” before they could make the decision to allow guests. 

Guest policy wasn’t the only thing that changed about the 2021 Homecoming. The dance was shortened to an hour and a half, instead of its traditional duration of three hours. Students had to arrive before 9:00 pm, and the dance officially ended at 10:00 pm. “We were trying to increase the amount of time people were together with each other,” said Aziz-Quintana. “If the dance was longer, students could easily miss each other due to staggered arrival times,” he said.

The shortened dance helped everyone come together, and most would say it was extremely successful. The Learning Commons was full of various students dancing, talking, and spending time with each other. “We wanted to make it so the dance was better overall for everyone,” explained Aziz-Quintana. The SCA’s strategy to condense attendance was ultimately extremely rewarding, as it felt like the whole student body was together in a social setting for one of the first times since COVID.

In terms of the actual setting of the dance, students noticed another big difference. The dance was split into two main areas, the Learning Commons, where most of the dancing took place, and outdoors, where students could hang out in a less invigorating atmosphere. The courtyard was decorated with several string lights that created a peaceful environment where students could take a breath. However, the beautiful ambiance was not so easily assembled. Aziz-Quintana described the challenges of putting this together: “The ground was really hard… and we couldn’t get the lights in.  It took a really long time.” However, the end result was phenomenal, and many students were grateful for a more relaxing climate.

The homecoming dance exceeded expectations this year. The hard work of the SCA created a dance that reminded older students of what school looked like before COVID, and gave them hope of a more normal year to come. Ultimately, it showed the resilience of the Flint Hill community, and that despite several challenges, the school can still come together and have a great time!