By Katlyn Marotz | Senior Managing News Editor
With a strange start to the 2021 school year, Indian Trail High School hosted a one-of-a-kind outside Netflix-themed Homecoming dance which drew 1,317 guests, making it IT’s third largest dance ever.
The student body deserved and needed the event.
“After not having ‘normal’ school activities for a while, I felt like everyone had a lot of energy built up,” said Matt St. Martin, IT vice principal.
The homecoming activities — parade, dance, game — were all positive ways for the student body to release that energy and celebrate their school.
“On the other hand, doing anything for the first time gives me worries. With all the uniqueness to the dance, there were a lot more conversations we had regarding “what-if” scenarios,” St. Martin said.
The event was staged outdoors, behind the stadium, where school staff set up a seating area with tables and chairs for students, as well as water and food by the concession stands. On a grassy field behind the seating area, large white tents paired with a stage and dance floor that covered half of the land allotted underneath the tents.
Gates opened for guests starting at 5:30 p.m., and students waited with anticipation in long lines that snaked up the hill.
With unusually high humidity for an October night, students grooved close together jumping up and down to the beat of each song, while others cheered each other on. Some guests danced with danger as they sported no foot attire, and others took out their tennis shoes or sandals for comfort.
IT senior and student council president Heaven Williams was delighted with how everything turned out. Without a student council club advisor this year, Williams and student council vice president Lily Peterson planned and organized many things, such as finding a source to supply tents, approving parade floats, and setting up the parade.
IT principal Scott Kennow expressed he felt really nervous prior to the dance because of the chance of thunderstorms. He wanted everyone to experience an enjoyable evening and many weeks of planning and communication went into organizing the event.
Tucker Matrisch and Heaven Williams were crowned Homecoming king and queen at the football game the previous night. Also, Jonathan Murray and Taylor Wilmot were announced prince and princess.
“I don’t even know how to put it into words. It was just a surreal feeling,” Williams said, about becoming homecoming queen. “Everything finally paid off.”
“There was so much good energy and so much love, and I just loved being a part of it all,” IT senior Taylor Wilmot said.
“It was stressful but it was an experience I don’t think I would’ve gotten anywhere else because I put myself out there — probably more than I ever have in my entire life,” Wilmot said, about running for homecoming court. “And that was a really hard part.”
Jeremiah Lunde, an IT senior and member of the local band Lunde, took on the role of DJ for the dance, and thought the dance ran more smoothly than expected and turned out to be a good vibe for guests.
“I just wanted to do something a little different than has been done in the past,” Lunde said. “It (previous DJs) seemed like usually it was an inexperienced student or someone who wasn’t in touch with what was going on in our school. So I thought it (being the DJ) would be a good opportunity to kind of bridge that gap and let the students be a part of some of the decision making.”
St. Martin felt that the dance was awesome.
“There were no issues, and everyone I talked to seemed like they had a great time,” he said.
Students could hang out away from the dance floor in a quieter area and talk.
“I also appreciated that is was MUCH cooler on the dance floor than when we would have the dance in the commons,” he said.
Everything that was invested into making the night a success proved to have paid off.
“Everything was absolutely worth it when I saw students having fun and so many staff members assisting,” Kennow said. “The Indian Trail staff members are amazing and special people. I am really grateful for how much support they provided this past week and the work they do throughout the year.”
Kennow couldn’t be more proud of the student body.
“It’s hard to put into words how happy that makes you feel when you were able to coordinate an event that made so many of our students feel good about being a student again,” he said.