Yes,

It’s Homecoming season again and everyone knows what that means: cheesy proposals, a pep rally, pictures parents love, and of course Homecoming court.

For students who enjoy the court, it is a fun way to vote for friends to embarrass them, and for others it’s to vote for who deserves it the most and represents a class well. For those who don’t like the idea of homecoming court, it is time that is taken up for a meaningless idea that recognizes people for no reason.

So is Homecoming court still relevant and fun? Yes it is.

Despite the fact that our school has been taking part in homecoming courts for decades now, students still tend to dislike the idea and wish it wasn’t part of Homecoming. Homecoming is a time to have fun at the school dance and maybe take some good pictures and eat nice food and that shouldn’t be filled with embarrassment if you are voted into the court, naysayers says. Homecoming court ends up being filled with people who are voted in because their friends want to embarrass them, which why people think it isn’t great.

For students like senior Adam Greenberg, who has been voted to the homecoming court, the public display of the voting can do more harm than good, which goes against the whole point of the festivity. “My sophomore year I dropped out of the homecoming court because I was embarrassed,” Greenberg said. “I knew my friends voted me in as a joke so I didn’t want to win.”

Although students feel it can be embarrassing to be voted into Homecoming court this can also be an opportunity to have fun with it and be able to go on the field for the pep rally. In addition, being voted into the court doesn’t mean you will win as there are three boys and three girls voted in for each grade. If a student is embarrassed they can also do what some have done in the past and drop out because Homecoming court may not be for everyone.

Homecoming is always a fun time and being voted into the court can add to the experience. When looking back in the future, if you won king or queen it can be a cool thing to tell people and a good memory you will have forever.

One of the biggest reasons Homecoming court is so great is because of the tradition. Homecoming courts have been around for as long as high schools have and are done all over the country. By being voted your name is added to the list that is filled with only a selective group of people. Being voted as king or queen is also something people have put on their college applications to show that you were well liked by your peers.

Although having a homecoming court is better than not, maybe there should be some regulations to the process or consent to be put on the ballot. At the beginning of the year a form should given to all students asking whether or not they’d like to be considered for the court and if they say yes they can be voted and if they say no then they can’t be. This way everyone is happy and the people who are voted as king and queen can have a fun time with the honors they are given. “If everyone had the option to be on the ballot for homecoming that would be a lot better that way no one can be upset with the outcome of the polls,” senior Gelila Yimam said.

-Danny Rothenberg
managing editor

No,

Homecoming court is not the same as it in the movies. In the movies, students strive to get prom king, queen or get on homecoming court. But not our students.

There are several reasons why our student body doesn’t like the concept of homecoming court. Common reasons include the voting process, the popularity aspect and the likely embarrassment they will or have encountered. “I hate it. Freshman year when I won and didn’t want to, the school basically made me go in the car during the homecoming football game and walk on stage during the dance even when I let them know I didn’t want to win or go up,” junior Andrew Ram said.

If you win homecoming king or queen for your grade level, you really aren’t asked to do much, but sometimes it can still be too much. If you win, you are required to go to the homecoming football game so you can go on a car and ride around the track with the other person who won in your grade. You are also required to go to the actual homecoming dance on time in order to go on stage for a ceremony.

Both of those events that you are supposed to attend can be very inconvenient. Some students don’t always attend the football games and being forced to attend can affect other plans. Also, it is common for students to get nervous about driving around the track during halftime.

Being required to show up to the dance on time can affect your whole homecoming. It is common for groups of students to take pictures and go to dinner at places sometimes far away. Needing to arrive at homecoming on time can mean that you won’t be able to go with your friends before. “What they make you do just seems difficult and unnecessary,” sophomore Brett Strauss said.

For those who actually want to win the title of homecoming king or queen, there is a very slim chance that they do. Usually students end up voting for their friends just as a joke. For the students who actually want to win and don’t, it’s not a good time watching someone who doesn’t even want to be there go on the football field or the stage at homecoming. The whole concept of homecoming court should be changed. Students should be able to choose if want the title even if they win. Also, the events that go along with winning should be altered to make sure that whoever wins doesn’t need to adjust their plans for the night in order to accommodate the school.

Homecoming is for the students to have fun and do what they want with their friends, not for the school to try to control what you do, affecting your whole night and homecoming experience.

-Josh Levine
staff writer