Robert DeDonatis, Staff Writer
Sep 21, 2014
The number of students attending Gables’s Homecoming dance each year has been continuously dwindling. Due to an increasingly poor attendance rate (with last year’s barely scraping 290 students), this might be one of its last years. The once highly held homecoming has, after years of fighting, finally fallen off of its pedestal.
Recently, this year’s Homecoming Court was removed due to the fact that only two students were interested in participating. Presumably, students elected not to partake in the homecoming court because they don’t feel like it is worth it. It was initially believed that the price of the dance was causing the lack of interest, but year after year it was lowered, with the same end result. A possible reason most students blow off homecoming as part of a less important high school milestone is that Miami has more exciting things to do during the weekends. Whether it’s going to the movies, hanging out with friends, spending time with “the bae” or simply staying at home, people prefer to spend their nights elsewhere.
“I have not attended any of the past three homecomings, and I’m pretty sure I’m not going to go this year. It’s just something that doesn’t appeal to me. So if this year’s homecoming did happen to be the last, it would not affect me. I don’t think it will affect the school much since fewer people have the desire to go with each passing year. This would affect the freshman the most because if they go and enjoy this year’s, then the next it is gone and they will be disappointed,” senior Nicolas Dabby said.
Although most of the student body does not attend homecoming, some wish to continue the tradition. Homecoming has been a part of Gables since the school opened 65 years ago. Those who wish to partake in all the school’s best experiences want to keep the dance because of its long-established significant part in the high school experience.
“I don’t like the fact that this year’s homecoming is possibly the last because it is a major school activity that most in the school should attend. I think it will dissapoint a lot of students because they will not get the chance to go. I think it will affect the freshman the most because since most freshman don’t really go the year they enter Gables they will never get the chance to attend,” freshman Alisa Sanchez said.
Putting forth a lot of effort is much more satisfying to the organizers when it pleases a large sum of people, so as the numbers start to decrease so does the interest in planning homecoming. It would be easier for those in charge of setting up the occasion for students to simply cancel it. If nobody seems interested then maybe the dance deserves its long awaited rest.
“Most days I do feel like homecoming should be cancelled… I’m not opposed to the possibility of canceling it if it does not meet the demands of 3400 kids. [As a planner] it makes me feel as if we wasted a lot of time and energy on it,” Student Activities Director Mrs. Suarez said.
Although many steps have been taken to preserve and make homecoming more available to students, nothing seems to have appealed enough to make them say, “Hey, I think I’ll go.”
