It is no surprise that COVID-19 has impacted many aspects of students’ lives when it comes to school. Safety protocols have been put in place that hinder the possibility of usual school events from taking place. Due to the surge of a new COVID variant and a rise in cases, it has been challenging for many school events to be planned. One of the largest areas that has been impacted by COVID are school dances.

Homecoming had to take place outside in October in order for students to properly follow health guidelines and restrictions. Seeing as this was in October and frigid Wisconsin temperatures hadn’t completely taken over yet, this was something that could realistically happen. 

Many wonder about the possibility of future dances now such as Snoball, Prom, and Senior Ball. These dances all take place during cold months of the year, and the temperatures will not be warm outside like they were in October. These dances couldn’t possibly be held outside.

Students and staff have voiced their concerns over the planning of future school dances and have put forth ideas towards planning them. Bay Port teacher Kathy Krause has been helping with the production of Prom for the last 20 years. Krause has previously coordinated Prom with Lisa Albanese, but now currently works with Melanie Hendricks.

“It’s like planning a wedding – once the venue and the DJ is secured, the rest of it falls into place,” Krause said. “[But] we weren’t quite sure if we could have it this year, so the timeline to finalize venues has been reduced.”

Krause shared that Prom is set to take place on April 23, and that a venue just needs to be finalized for that date. Krause explained that because we are in school full-time and students are participating in co-curricular activities, Prom at the moment is scheduled to be held. Unfortunately, things could always change because of COVID. There is still the possibility of Prom being cancelled.

“As of now, it should not affect it, but as with everything related to COVID, plans could change,” Krause said. 

Student Council is in charge of planning Snoball and Homecoming. Student Council President Callie Jagler shared that lots of collaboration has to go into planning school dances. 

Decisions have to be made months in advance, and there has to be an approximate timeframe for everyone to work with. Callie continued to say that planning Homecoming this year was a little different because the advisors had a lot that had to be done beforehand due to certain district-wide rules. 

“It’s a lot of teamwork, and communicating, as well as organization,” Callie said. 

In a normal year, Student Council works diligently with administration to plan a school dance that is safe and enjoyable for everyone. 

“I’m assuming the planning for Snoball will be similar to Homecoming, where it is a very play it by ear situation,” Callie said. “Due to COVID concerns, our advisors will meet with the administration again to talk about the situation.”

After receiving a clear answer from administration, Student Council can fully jump into planning Snoball and other future school dances. Unfortunately, there is always the possibility that the answer could change due to constantly changing rules and health restrictions. 

Student Council Advisor Justin Nelson shared that they have tentative plans for Snoball to take place. 

“If Snoball happened, our concern would be finding the right blend of fun and safety to make sure the event was successful, while also being safe,” Nelson said. 

Nelson has been a co-advisor for Student Council for 11 years working alongside new co-adviser Mitchell Meyer. 

“Increased communication not only throughout the council, but also administration will be needed,” Callie said. 

Planning school dances comes with lots of work for those involved, but new – and always changing COVID guidelines make the task at hand trickier for the planners.

“My concern, and those of many on the council, is making sure that whatever we do will be best for the student body, and be safe,” Callie said. “Our goal as a Student Council is to be leaders in our school, and a part of that is making sure we can support the student body, and I think we do our best to do that.”