Love and school spirit will join together on Valentine’s Day at the homecoming dance. Student Council decided to break tradition by having the dance right after the annual homecoming basketball game instead of the usual Saturday night. 

Hosting the dance on a Friday allows for the staff to gather enough supervision compared to an event on the weekend. The dance is set for Feb. 14 from 9:45 p.m. to midnight. 

“We wanted to try something different, and there was a large influence from Mr.Nulik. Homecoming used to always be on Friday night and in order to return to tradition we decided this was the year to try it,” Student Council member Mara Oswald said.

STUCO sponsor Erica Rickard said there are limited home Friday basketball games to choose a homecoming week. Homecoming landing on the day of Valentine’s Day was a coincidence. 

“I don’t think [homecoming] being on Valentine’s Day is a big deal but some people might already have plans and won’t be able to attend homecoming,” sophomore Gracie Newhouse said. 

Not only is the dance changing its usual day of the week but now students are allowed to dress informally, following the theme of “Railertines.”

“The dance will be most likely less formal so there won’t be as much of a charade with it. I hope people are more comfortable dancing now that they aren’t wearing dresses,” Oswald said.

A full night is planned with boys and girls basketball games, the homecoming coronation, and the dance to follow. 

“That is a possibility, that [the basketball game] could affect the dance attendance either positively or negatively and same then with the game, it could encourage kids to go to the game or it might discourage them depending on their plans. Time will tell,” Rickard said.