A new school year means meeting up with old friends and making new ones, struggling to navigate the halls that never seem wide enough and saying goodbye to life without a sleep schedule. And with our descent into fall comes the return of old traditions: spirit weeks, pep rallies and homecoming, all organized by the Student Government Association. I’m here to give you the inside scoop in this column.

As October approaches, SGA already has one successful pep rally under its belt, with spirit noticeably higher than the virtual school year. “The pep rally was really good, I really liked seeing a lot of people in their colors,” senior and SGA Co-President Maya Chelar said.

Along with a series of statements from the fall sports teams, the back-to-school pep rally accompanied the exciting announcement of this year’s Oct. 16 homecoming theme: decades. In the weeks since, SGA has broken into different committees, planning spirit week, games, ticket sales, class hallways and more.

According to a report from MCPS, a traditional homecoming dance will  not be permitted due to COVID circumstances. “I am definitely worried about homecoming. There’s a lot of change, a lot of expectations that I know cannot be met,” sociology teacher and SGA sponsor Amy Buckingham said. “Everything is going to have to have a backup. I think we’re going to have to be incredibly conscious of levels of comfort in personal interactions as well as in financial interactions.”

SGA has already been planning outdoor alternatives, like utilizing parking lot space. After a fully virtual school year without dances and pep rallies, students are excited for the return of spirit. “I think homecoming is going to be fun. Especially this year everyone’s super excited,” sophomore Nico D’Orazio said. 

In the meantime, students can look forward to class hallways (which may be moved to the courtyards) and floats. Each grade level is assigned one decade between 1950 and 1980 as a theme for their hallway and float: freshmen are ‘60s, sophomores are ‘50s, juniors are ‘80s and seniors are ‘70s.

To get students spirited in the days leading up to the homecoming dance, SGA is also planning the year’s first spirit week Oct. 11 – 15. Students are encouraged to dress up for Tropical Monday, Country vs. Country Club Tuesday, Pajama Wednesday, Time Travel Thursday and Class Colors Friday. 

Though Chelar has noticed a decrease in spirit since her freshman year, she hopes that the return to school will bring a new sense of spirit to the community. To make that happen, SGA is working on increasing its presence, improving communication with the student body and offering more opportunities for student advocacy. “SGA is putting in all of their effort and every member in SGA is putting in everything they possibly can to make this the year to come back. This year is going to add up for all of the things we had to sacrifice last year,” Chelar said.

Though events may not look the same this year, SGA is working to make the return to in-person school the best it can be. “Everybody is inputting all of their ideas, going and talking to administration, talking to different teachers, to students, so we are really trying our absolute hardest and we just hope that the whole student body enjoys it,” Chelar said.