The second runner-ups were Christian Buller and Sandy Tickles.

The first runner-ups were Matt Broll and Rachael Zdeb.

The Prom King and Queen were Abdul Ankrah and Misha Modiri.

The Prom King and Queen, Abdul and Misha, at the dance on April 24th, 2010.

Girls:

• Kelsi Horner
• Misha Modiri
• Christine Nelson
• Bailie Phelan
• Jenni Pinkelman
• Jennifer Sommerfeld
• Christina Strauss
• Sandy Tickles
• Sierra Trussell
• Hannah Williams
• Rachael Zdeb

Boys:

• Abdul Ankrah
• Mickey Baltzley
• Matt Broll
• Christian Buller
• Adam Giacalone
• Vik Govindarajan
• Jon Kankam
• Kevin Krumme
• Kyle McGahee
• Cody Parks
• Ed Spaunhorst

The dance is for all juniors and seniors. Any outside guests must be registered in the office by filling out a form.

Tickets for Prom will be around $25 for 1 ticket and $48 for 2 tickets.

The theme for this year’s prom is “Electric Avenue,” and the After Prom theme is “Under the Big Top.”

The idea for After Prom began when parent Bonnie Perkins began organizing all-night after-prom parties at her daughters’ high school after her friend’s 18-year-old son was killed while driving drunk.

The prom committee spends all year getting ready for this event, starting in September. There are about 40 people involved to help make the event a success.

“It pulls out the creative side that I don’t get to see teaching AP Government,” prom committee advisor Sara Schaufler said.

Schaufler helps pick out themes and colors as well as making sure the decorators set up everything and take everything down the night of prom.

“It’s like being an event planner,” Schaufler said. “I’m just lacking the head-set.”

-Rachel Ferencz

Sadie Hawkins was a character in the comic strip Li’l Abner, which was published in newspapers from 1934 to 1977. Nov. 13 was designated Sadie Hawkins Day in the comic. It was a day where girls could chase the bachelors around town and marry the ones they caught.

Bambi Pachimsawat, an exchange student from Thailand was crowned Queen of Courts at the basketball game on Feb. 12, and Steve Carver was crowned King of Courts at the dance on Saturday night.

Girls:

• Savannah Carbajo
• Caitlin Fitzgerald
• Jessi Howard
• Carly Iverson
• Cassie Jones
• Laura Konecny
• Audrey Millard
• Rachel Morgan
• Bambi Pachimsawat
• Stephanie Rupp

Boys:

• Tyler Amble
• Bryan Ayars
• Steve Carver
• Nick Feighner
• Alex Geis
• Kent Hollingsworth
• Spencer Merryfield
• Nolan Parker
• Lippi Souza
• Gregory Wynn

Photo by David Freyermuth

The first time I heard about the Homecoming dance being on Halloween, I thought, ‘OK, this could turn out to be a lot of fun.’ But then I heard the not-so-exciting news. No costumes will be allowed at the dance.

“Halloween is not a school activity and we’re not going to make it a school activity,” Dr. Bill Harrington said.

Are you kidding? Northwest’s school colors are orange and black, for crying out loud. Halloween is the only day of the year that orange and black are the colors for everyone. It’s almost like everybody is an orange and black Cougar for a day. Yet, at this orange and black school, we have to pretend that Halloween doesn’t exist.

The Homecoming theme, “Midnight Mystery”, alludes to a masquerade. I can understand that students wearing masks could cause identity issues. Fine. No masks. But no costumes at all? What is the harm in wearing costumes to a school dance? Let’s take a look at the other issues pertaining to costumes at the dance.

Safety: Costumes tend to come with hand-held or miscellaneous objects, like swords or wands. These could easily become dangerous and should not be allowed at the dance. Why can’t students be told beforehand that these objects won’t be permitted into the dance, and then take them away at the door if students persist?

Offensive costumes: It’s no secret that sometimes girls’ Halloween costumes can be too revealing. And then there are the costumes that are just plain distasteful and indecent. Again, students could be warned ahead of time that those wearing inappropriate costumes can be turned away at the door.

So who will be in charge of monitoring the doors as guests arrive? I say let a group of students have that responsibility. Maybe Student Council or another group that will take the job seriously. If given responsibility for a cause that they support, students will take charge and act responsibly. Yes, there would be many steps in insuring that this dance is done the right way, but I think it would be worth it.

Imagine walking into a Homecoming dance where everyone is dressed up in costumes, creepy music is being played and spider webs decorate the walls. Sadly, this is not how the administration sees Homecoming night on Halloween.

I’ve heard many students discussing that they probably won’t even attend Homecoming this year — they’d rather just go to Halloween parties. At least there they’d be able to sport their costumes and Halloween spirit.

I guess I just don’t understand what the problem is with students wearing costumes to Homecoming. I really hope that sometime between now and Homecoming, there is a change of heart. If nothing else, this could give students a huge morale boost — another reason to take pride in going to school at NW.

Staring at a football schedule for the 2009 season, the administration realized they had a difficulty: Homecoming. Only three weekends were possibilities for the game and dance to occur, and all of them were problematic.

Option 1: Have the dance during the first week of September. Not only would Student Council and Spirit Club have to set up Bonfire, but they would have to organize the Homecoming assembly, crowning and dance within the first few weeks of school.

Option 2: A date in the middle of the football season was available for the game, but that weekend conflicted with a marching band festival. That plan would immediately eliminate the largest organization in the school from the dance attendee list.

Option 3: Halloween. Although this is the latest date Homecoming has ever been held, everyone has the option to attend, and the organizations involved have plenty of time to plan it.

“We debated long and hard about every alternative,” principal Bill Harrington said.

But even after making sure the date for the Homecoming dance didn’t conflict with other organizations’ activities, there were still problems. Not only is the Oct. 30 football game the Homecoming matchup, but it’s football senior night and the light show, making for one hectic weekend.

When the Halloween option was selected, most StuCo members knew they could make it work, but others were less than pleased. Once the planning started, StuCo members proposed various themes for the dance, including glow-in-the-dark and masquerade ideas, but chose Midnight Mystery.

“It alludes to a masquerade, but without the masks because there are a lot of identity issues revolving around students in masks, and we didn’t want to chance that,” StuCo sponsor Sarah Dent said.

Students are also not allowed to attend the dance dressed in costumes although the dance falls on Halloween.

“It’s not a costume dance. It’s a regular school dance. We don’t wear costumes. We’re not going to make an exception because it’s Halloween. If they want to wear costumes they go somewhere else and have a Halloween party. If want to come to the Homecoming dance and be appropriate, they come here,” Harrington said.

“It kind of made me mad that [Homecoming] is on Halloween because it’s our last Halloween for seniors, and the school won’t let us wear costumes,” senior Zoe Phelps said.

With approximately $2,000 to spend, StuCo began planning the event. Most of the money is spent on the DJ and decorations. While students are not allowed to cover their faces, masks will be used as decoration along with twinkling lights placed beneath a gauzy, filmy cloth.

“It’s not really creative, just elegant,” said junior Sara Osborne, StuCo dance coordinator.

While the color scheme for the dance is an array of black, red and gold, the original plan was for Mardi Gras colors.
“When we were looking at the samples of purples, greens and golds, it wasn’t what we had in mind, so we changed to something classier,” Dent said.

While StuCo was thinking of the decorations, Spirit Club was handling Homecoming King and Queen candidates, and the PTSA was asked to bring snacks for the refreshment table. Naturally, word spread and students made assumptions about the dance.

“I thought it was going to be a masquerade or something, like a “Phantom of the Opera” kind of deal,” sophomore Andrea Rodriguez said.

Other students had the same thoughts. When they found out that the administration was not allowing costumes or masks to be worn, some changed their plans for the evening.

“I think it’s ridiculous unless they have a masquerade/costume theme,” sophomore Kelley Gamm said.

Other students are planning to incorporate Homecoming into their Halloween festivities.

“I’m going to Homecoming, and after that a haunted house because it’s Halloween and I get to hang out with my friends,” freshman Net Sriprom said.

Like Sriprom, sophomore Karrin Branson is planning on combining Halloween and Homecoming. She is attending the dance and going trick-or-treating afterward.

“We’re going around my neighborhood after the dance to see if there is any leftover candy,” Branson said.

With this year being her last Homecoming, senior Hannah Amundson was disappointed when she learned the date of the dance, but found a way to work Halloween into her evening as well.

“It’s our last time to be with friends on Halloween, so we’re going to have a Halloween party afterward,” Amundson said.

Students were not the only ones slightly upset by the date of Homecoming. Teachers who supervise the dance have young children.

“I was a little disappointed because my son can go trick-or-treating now, and I wanted to go with him,” Dent said.
Whether Oct. 31 plans include Homecoming or not, it will be a night of festivities.

“We don’t want to compromise the integrity of the dance,” Dent said. “It’s more than a mixer, more than a get-together; it’s still a formal dance.”

- Maria Davison and Brianna Leyden