Photo Credit: JP PORTRAITS
BY ALLISON BARNARD
As October rolls around every year, CCHS hallways buzz with excited chatter about the annual homecoming week. Yet as our attitudes soar with positive school spirit, our grade averages and bank accounts drain in a steep decline. With gorgeous dresses, killer heels, sharp tuxedos, and extravagant limousines being prerequisites for attending the dance the price to pay keeps climbing. Some may say the experience of attending homecoming is priceless, but at a minimum cost of $80 per ticket, is it really worth the expenditure?
With a week of fun-filled a after-school activities and themed dress-up days, what’s not to love? Spending hours to brainstorm creative candy-themed outfits and decorate intricately scripted t-shirts; we tend to focus more on prepping our attire than school. There’s no doubt that between late nights of ensemble creations and countless class interruptions for yearbook pictures, our focus lies on anything but class work. With first quarter grades closing out, our focus should be working towards improving our averages.
At the center of the excitement is the homecoming dance, taking place yearly in a grand ballroom. With tickets priced at $80, many CCHS students can’t even afford to be included in the celebration. However that $80 is just the beginning. Endless funds are drained on temporary cosmetics such as tanning, make up, hair appointments, and so forth. On top of these costs, pricey dressed and shoes must be purchased and tailored. Overall the average girl spends about $200, just on her appearance. While guys may get a break on cosmetics, the expectation to buy his date’s ticket and flowers is simply also adds up. Cashing in on top of all of these other costs is the limousine/party bus rentals, costing each group an average of $2,000.
All of this money goes down the drain after four hours of dancing. $100 spent on makeup melts away, $50 hair do’s fall and $200 heels get either trampled or neglected under a table. While you may leave the dance having had a good time, the amount of money spent does not logically make sense. For the sake of students, parents, and staff a compromise needs to be made to lower these costs. By having homecoming in the cafeteria, costs would not only be significantly lowered, but more students would be able to attend.
