By EVA HANEGRAAFF

NORTH READING⏤ While most think of homecoming as a big football game and a dance in the gym, North Reading High School’s Student Council hopes to make this year’s homecoming like no other.  They’ve incorporated a unique theme and a large budget to encourage school spirit and unity.

This event will be held on Friday, November 15, at Olio in Peabody and is open to all North Reading High School students.  Tickets are $25 and will be sold until Friday, October 18.  Every ticket bought enters the individual into a raffle for four Patriots tickets and parking for the Rams’ game on November 17.

This year’s homecoming has an untraditional theme: Night in New York. “We had to get something really original, really fun that everybody would want to participate in,” Student Council president Natalia Panousos explains.  She, as well as the other members of the homecoming committee decided on this idea for a variety of reasons, including the versatility of the theme and the dress code.

Among their other potential themes, there was “Under the Sea,” “Golden Gala” and “Red Carpet.”  The vote was unanimously in favor of “Night in New York,” though, mixing in some elements of the “Red Carpet” theme.  On the topic of what aided them in making this decision, Student Council member Lucia Mini added, “We also took into account what decorations we’d put up and how many people would come depending on the theme that we chose.”

This location is a major contrast to what many upperclassmen remember as homecoming.  Olio is an event space that has hosted numerous big events and thus is a big contrast to the traditional gym/cafeteria underclassmen dances NRHS students are accustomed to.  Mini explains the decision to look beyond the high school for a venue in saying, “we’ve heard a lot of feedback from past grades and overwhelmingly they’ve all agreed that they’d rather go to a homecoming not at our school.”

Olio was the clear choice when considering the theme and the budget.  Panousos describes the decision by saying, “we went in there and it was just a really gorgeous and industrial space.”  She added, “we thought it fit the New York vibe so much.”  The Student Council was not alone in this search, however, as Mini gives due credit to the Parents’ Association. “The Parents’ Association was a big help. They did a lot of the planning for us and found places that would be in our budget,” she said.

When discussing what one can expect from this dance, Panousos reveals that there will be games and prizes, but that the nature of this entertainment is “classified.”  Along with entertainment, the Student Council has also put a lot of time and effort into their decorations for this event.  They plan to include a red carpet, a cityscape backdrop, and string lights to really drive home the theme.

School spirit is one of the Student Council’s major goals.  They hope to build unity within NRHS through this dance, and have taken countless steps to maximize the event’s lasting impact. “We think homecoming will be a really great way to bring people together so we just want to continue this as a tradition,” Panousos said.  Mini also adds that the event seeks to provide an experience for underclassmen in which they can be immersed in the positive culture of NRHS early on in the year.  “Raising school spirit for the freshmen and sophomores is what we’re aiming to do,” she explains.

Mini acknowledges the shortcomings of last year’s homecoming. “It wasn’t bad, it was just a simple homecoming,” she said, explaining, “it was in the gym with a DJ and snacks, and that’s it.  We’re hoping to elevate everyone else’s experience and make it better.”

TICKET SALES EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS

So far, they are exceeding their original expectations of 200 students attending.  Panousos explains this prediction in saying, “Now we’re expecting to see a lot higher because we’ve sold so many tickets so far.”  She is now predicting that there will be closer to 300 students in attendance, selling 190 tickets already.

Homecoming this year will surpass any that the current NRHS students have experienced yet and will thus be an event that students do not want to miss.  Get your tickets now before time runs out to secure your ability to experience this incredibly anticipated event!

NRHS senior Eva Hanegraaff is a student intern at the Transcript for the 2024-25 school year. She wants to use her internship to learn about the field of journalism and bring a high school voice to the Transcript. Contact her at evahanegraaff@gmail.com with any article ideas or tips.