NEWS

They danced on the grass

By JOHN HOWELL
Posted 11/11/21

By JOHN HOWELL High school students are accustomed to tests, only the ones they have had to take in the last week won't affect their grade point averages or show up on their transcripts. That doesn't diminish their significance, as was evidenced Saturday

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NEWS

They danced on the grass

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High school students are accustomed to tests, only the ones they have had to take in the last week won’t affect their grade point averages or show up on their transcripts. That doesn’t diminish their significance, as was evidenced Saturday night at Pilgrim High School.

More than 300 students not only tested negative for COVID-19 but had to complete an online questionnaire before they were eligible to attend the homecoming dance held in a tent outside the school. Once they arrived at the gym entrance, they had their temperatures taken before being checked off for admission. The girls had been warned to wear sneakers and flip flops, as heels aren’t made for dancing on grass.

Shoes aside, the COVD precautions of homecoming didn’t deter many students from doing it up for the occasion. Some students were dressed to the nines, the boys wearing colorful jackets and bow ties and the girls in dresses. Some even wore heels.

“It’s stressful and the same time exciting,” said Alysia Czerwien of the evening. Wearing a sleeveless dress, she came prepared with a sweater. She had a jacket in the car, which she retrieved not long after sampling conditions in the tent.

Even as the sun set, it was chilly in the tent. Leah Hazelwood, one of several volunteers arranging tables and lights in the tent, expected conditions would change dramatically once several hundred energetic students started gyrating. She wasn’t exactly right. The tent reflected lasers that spiraled to a hammering tune that brought students together into one throbbing mass. The temperature may have inched upward, but it was a cool November night for those who watched, not that they could see a lot.

At the end of the corridor leading to the tent, a photographer and his crew arranged students for a picture memorializing the 2021 Pilgrim Homecoming Dance. Some girls donned heels for the moment. Couples struck poses. Friends commented from the line waiting to get their shot – not vaccination – next. In fact, the effects of the pandemic were out of mind.

Thanks to the generosity of DePetrillo’s Pizza, Chelo’s, Rigatoni’s, Jersey Mike’s and Gel’s Kitchen, there was an abundance of food. The spread greeted students as they arrived. It wasn’t overlooked. Volunteers Annie Anthony and Michelle Gustafson were kept busy dishing out pasta and chicken fingers. Cookies and bite-sized calzones rapidly disappeared from open trays.

For social advisor Cindy Rix, the culmination of months of planning and following up on regulations was finally here. The homecoming had to meet Department of Health approval. With students streaming in – after having their temperatures checked, Rix marveled at the students, praising their outfits and bubbling with enthusiasm.

Principal Gerry Habershaw was also in his element. “Let’s dance,” he said waving his arms in the direction of the tent as students lingered in the corridor, seemingly waiting for the courage to abandon inhibition – or perhaps brave the cold – and dance on the grass.

Pilgrim, homecoming

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