For those who have seen this word in a particular title of a marvel movie but have not yet grasped its meaning, let me quickly define it. A homecoming is an event where graduated students revisit their high school or college to celebrate it. It lasts for a few days to a week and typically involves a football game and a dance, among other activities. You might be thinking, ‘wow, that sounds like a lot of fun,’ or ‘wow, that sounds incredibly boring.’  Most high schools and colleges take part in this tradition, but Wayne Hills simply isn’t one of them. Once you step out of those heavy doors on that warm spring day in June, it’s for good. Since the administration hasn’t and probably won’t ever publicly address why this is the way it is, I will share some of my theories.

Little to No Requests

When Wayne Hills was still a new high school, the curriculums and activities probably would’ve been set in place shortly after, right? Since homecomings are more of a privileged event rather than a necessity in high schools and colleges, it makes sense if the administration never implemented the event if no one ever requested it when the high school first opened. If many requests came in between then and now, the administration might have considered partaking in homecomings, but the majority of people simply didn’t and still don’t care about whether they happen or not.

An informal opinion on the matter from a student at this high school, Adam M, simply stated, “It doesn’t really matter to me, I guess.” Simply stated it should very well be; the subject of the matter is a simple ‘yes’, ‘no’, or ‘I don’t care’ response. It is the opinion of one, yes, but ask others around the halls, and their responses will likely be the same.

Safety Reasons

There are several safety hazards at a homecoming event. Since many people are present at the event, the administration may be concerned that a football game could potentially cause injuries to those inside and near the roads outside the event, when entering and leaving. It may seem unnecessary, but the roads near the event are hazardous, especially if it takes place at night and is full of drivers — inexperienced drivers. A dance with hundreds of individuals within a closed space may also be a concern to the administration. It is up to every administration of every school to decide how precautious they want to be concerning safety, so ours may be on that precautious side.

Administration’s Perspective

The fact is, regardless of if homecoming is requested by a few individuals or every single student, the administration makes the final decision. They do not have to consider, go forward with, comply or agree with, or even pay attention to any opinions of any students in any way or form if they do not want to. Therefore, If they feel that a homecoming is a silly, trivial event with little meaning to the school, that’s that. There is nothing students can do to force the event nor do they have the money to host it themselves. Not having a homecoming in a high school or college is not a violation of First Amendment rights, so students cannot threaten to or go forward with suing the administration.

History

Wayne Hills was established a decently long time ago; 2023 will be the 57th year that the high school will be in business. In this timespan, what if homecomings were done at a certain point? What if the previous members of the administration did have this event implemented in the school, but removed it for some reason? A reason could be that a serious accident occurred at the high school, which caused them to discontinue this event. (Kind of connects back to safety reasons theory) If this is the case, it must’ve been a relatively long time ago, since most teachers present at the school have not worked here long enough to have experienced that possible removal. Don’t expect to find any significant history of this high school on the website, by the way. The history that is on the website probably doesn’t go back further than the 90s, whether in the form of images, documents, or mp4s/mp3s. This is one of the more unlikely theories.

In conclusion, barely anyone at this school cares about whether homecomings happen. Spirit rallies, football games, and dances are enough. While all of these theories are very possible, even if the chances are zero with a decimal attached to it, the lack of interest in this event is likely the most practical.