Homecoming events cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols
Students show class spirit and attend the homecoming pep rally masked. Even if their voices will be muffled, their enthusiasm will not be.
September 29, 2021
The homecoming dance and four of the pep rallies, both traditions at Jefferson, were cancelled due to COVID-19 for the 2021-2022 school year.
The FCPS COVID-19 protocols restricted the school to one pep rally, and cancelled the dance.
“We’re not having a dance, but that’s more so in terms of protocols from the county,” said Class of 2025 principal Shawn Frank.
Students have now missed out on the full homecoming experience. The dance was a big part of homecoming, and with it canceled, a lot of other events like Asking Week had their purposes shifted to be continued only for tradition.
“I already missed the bash, and now I will not have a homecoming dance to attend either,” said freshman Sara Jamalzai.
The dance was canceled as a precaution to stop the spread of COVID-19, but some other schools also had dances in spite of the risk.
“The homecoming dance was canceled due to an administrative decision to try and minimize the spread of COVID-19. However, after the initial news that it was canceled, we heard that other schools had dances, and proposed an altered outside dance to align with COVID-19 protocols. The administration considered this solution but ultimately decided against the dance citing safety concerns and minimizing points of exposure, and there was nothing we [the SGA] could do about it from there,” said senior Leon Jia, SGA president.
Pep rallies are usually held once every day at Jefferson during homecoming week. However there was only one that happened for the whole week because of Covid protocols. This limited the pep rally homecoming competition. Students were disappointed with the limited opportunity to attend pep rallies.
“I was quite devastated when they announced that we only have one pep rally to look forward to. I was wishing to attend five pep rallies throughout the week,” said Jamalzai.
Even with less opportunities to embrace Homecoming culture, students were optimistic about the events that are still occurring.
“At least we will get to enjoy one pep rally. We will for sure make the best out of it,” said Jamalzai.
