HB student council is preoccupied planning events for curious seniors wondering how COVID guidelines will affect their 2021-2022 festivities. The hope for everything to resume to how it was before the virus is certainly in effect. This year’s seniors are looking like they’ll have more opportunities than the past two. With that being said, the student council is assiduous with their planning, making sure it follows the guidelines.

To start the year, student council opted for a festival, rather than the formal homecoming dance some students were expecting. Not only can the gym not accommodate 400 plus students with the COVID protocols in effect, but it’s also not available with the sports teams needing the space. Senior class advisor Meg Clearly said it was brought to their attention that large gatherings like a dance can not be arranged inside at this time. The senior class was hesitant towards the option of an outside dance due to the cost it would be to conduct that. “We could have done a dance outside, but it was too expensive and would have happened later in the year,” Jalisa Cora ’22. Instead, the carnival was planned to be very entertaining for the HB students to play games and have food available for them.

Unfortunately due to the inclimate weather that day, it was postponed to a later day in November and tickets were reimbursed.

On the plus side, the traditional senior booth at Old Home days raised enough money to cover the down payment deposit for the space at the Doubletree Hotel where prom will be held. The only dance guaranteed for seniors at the moment is prom. “We’re fortunate enough to have prom back indoors at the Doubletree so we’re really excited about that,” said student body president Sam Shephard ‘22.

Some events will have to wait, however. “Assemblies are on pause waiting for approval since it’s hard to justify having a thousand people in the gym,” said Cleary. Student council is working for Spirit Week to provide more possibilities for a better turnout than previous years. Spirit week’s format is still up in the air. The question of whether it will be formatted like last year with the video skits played during class is unresolved. Though that could be subject to change based on assemblies being allowed.

The Senior class is currently working on new engaging fundraisers and activities to replace the things that the students are used to, by working with the covid guidelines. Meanwhile, there is hope for possible competitive tournaments that are in the making. “We are still waiting on the logistics of it(potential activity) but we really want to get that out before November starts,” said Cleary.