1,231 students enjoyed another homecoming dance mashup on Friday, October 14. This is the only dance where all grades are invited and this year East had about half of its students in attendance – a new school record for Homecoming.

Last year, the school’s Student Government Association (SGA) and the Thespian Society worked together to plan Hocoween, a homecoming dance where students had the opportunity to dress up in costumes. However, not all East students celebrate Halloween. 

“This year, let’s make it more inclusive. Let’s remove the tag of Halloween so that even if you don’t celebrate Halloween, even if you don’t really like Halloween, you can still come,” said Thespian Society President Carlotta Vingelli (‘23).

This year’s masquerade theme was new and could be enjoyed by all.

The homecoming dance is held each year on the night before the popular East versus West football game. 

“Before the football game against our crosstown rivals, Homecoming brings our school community together with a fun twist,” said Christopher Shin (‘23), Student Government Association President.

The homecoming dance is all about unity and school spirit. The dance includes fun activities that get the students excited to support East the next morning in the battle against West on the football field. 

Teachers began admitting students promptly at 7 pm and distributed tickets to vote for the Homecoming Court. Students casted their votes with their friends and made their way into the dance.

This year’s dance was located in both cafeterias and the courtyard. Booths for mask-making, clubs, and more were set up in the cafeterias and the back of the courtyard. One booth, “Murder Mystery”, was designed to take you through each booth with a candy reward at the end. 

Lines at the food station in the courtyard were long throughout the entire night. Teachers were constantly placing new plates of Chick-Fil-A nuggets out on the table. Right beside them were the sweets which included a variety of different trays of cookies, muffins, brownies, cupcakes, and more. 

At around 9 pm, Uma Mawrie (‘23) was named Homecoming Queen and Lucas Tang (‘23) was named Homecoming King.  

The majority of students stayed until when the dance concluded, around 10 pm. Students had a lot of fun at the homecoming dance and it will definitely be a night to remember!