Strands of decorative lights and fluorescent glow sticks lit up the gym last night, Oct. 21, for the Homecoming dance.

Organized by Student Affairs Council (SAC), this year’s dance was held in the gym due to the construction work and lack of a cafeteria.

“It was actually kind of an exciting moment when we realized we get to do the stereotypical, classic homecoming setting in the gym,” Head Prefect Akshay Jaggi said.

Another bright side to homecoming in the gym was the extra space. While one side of the “Old” gym was used for the dance floor, the other side was filled with tables for students who wanted to relax or talk.

There were a few downsides to the bigger space since it affected the decorations and food preparation.

“Hanging things from the ceiling and decorating columns are pretty much out of the question now,” sponsor Erol Turk said as SAC prepared. “We are very fortunate because Ms. Bahr is letting us use the concession stand area as a place to prep for the food.”

SAC usually begins to set up on the Sunday before the dance; however, it would have disrupted P.E. classes and sports practices this year, so they decided to decorate on the day of Homecoming.

“It’s going to be a marathon of decorations from 2:15 until the dance starts at 7 o’clock,” Jaggi said before the dance. “We have some dedicated SAC members who will be there the whole time. We’re calling it the 17 hours because that’s how long they’re going to be here.”

SAC usually picks four to five themes before sending them to Dean Popp to be approved.

“We probably had fifteen ideas that were ever brought up, but most of those were rejected,” sophomore SAC representative Claire Melcher said.

Some of the freshmen had mixed feelings about the dance.

“It’s kind of weird when you’re a freshman because you’re just on the outside [of the dance floor], but it’s going to be a lot of fun when we’re seniors and in the middle of everything,” freshman Catherine Jackson said.