The Revere High School Student Council planned and hosted this year’s Homecoming dance in the high school gym.

621 students attended the Saturday night dance on September 30th, the theme of which was “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” based on William Shakespeare’s classic play. Festivities leading up to the dance included a spirit week and the annual Homecoming football game on September 28th. Senior Vice President Abby Ray said that the group focused on the play’s setting by incorporating plants as well as structural features such as columns and lanterns to give the space an “enchanted forest vibe.” She discussed other decorating choices as well.

“We decided not to cover everything with decorations to avoid tackiness,” Ray said.

Senior President Becca Fisher, who oversaw the event, explained the process of selecting a theme and preparing for the dance.

“We started last year by [asking the student body to vote] on a theme, and there were five options. We also went to the middle school and asked the eighth graders to vote; we took a tally, and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ won,” Fisher said.

The group annually rents props from North Coast Theatrical in Akron. They also buy smaller decorations such as lights and paper goods online. This year they split up the decoration of the gym and surrounding areas among the officers, and they delegated some tasks involved to other council members. Fisher also scheduled the records rooms necessary to vote on themes and Homecoming court. She and the other officers planned the Homecoming assembly, as well as the half-time program at the Homecoming football game. She explained why Homecoming tickets have a “seemingly high cost.”

“Tickets are so expensive because Homecoming is our main fundraiser for the year. so it funds Powderpuff, [the] Men’s Volleyball [tournament], Senior Citizens’’ Prom, all the brunches we host and the OASC stuff we do; that is how we pay for it all. A lot of money also goes into putting Homecoming on, so we have to pay for the DJ, the decorations, security and flowers,” Fisher said. The group also secures a photo booth and uses the leftover funds to pay for incidentals such as replacement decorations.

Adviser Jenny Kirchner described all the work that went into executing the dance.

“[Members are expected to help with] painting signs, creating decorations, actually putting the decorations up the day before, and cleaning up after,” Kirchner said.

The district scheduled the game and dance earlier than in previous years; it usually occurs in October. Ray explained the challenges involved with that.

“We had to come up with decorating ideas really quickly and take less time contemplating all our decisions. Our officer meetings always go a little longer than we plan because there is more to cover in less time,” Ray said.

Ray mentioned other changes Student Council plans to make this year.

“The biggest thing we changed this year were the ballots. Since the students have MacBooks, we wanted to make the ballots electronic. We hoped that they would make counting much easier,” Ray said.

This year’s Homecoming court included Lexi Abou-Ghalioum, Emma Boltz, Andrew Boyazis, Will Branch, Lydia Butler, Eliana Burlotos, Zack Kasson, Pete Nance, Allie Staats and Audric Wertz. Cole Bonfiglio and Addison Novosel served as freshman representatives, and William Marchetta and Claire Brokloff represented the sophomore class. Juniors Omar Najjar and Jessica Vari rounded out the court.