Haiden Behrle and her schoolmates at Pembroke Academy saw the photos online last weekend.
They didn’t like what they saw: pictures from high school homecoming dances, the girls wearing dresses, the boys in suits and ties, everyone posing for the camera, smiling, hugging, dancing, experiencing.
Certainly, these are rough images to digest when your own dance has been canceled, like Pembroke’s was.
Behrle, a freshman at Pembroke Academy, and her friends saw photos from Coe-Brown Academy’s school-sponsored dance. Officials there held their event in the gym on Saturday night.
They saw kids from Pinkerton Academy enjoying similar good fortune, after their school came up with an alternative to the traditional in-the-gym event.
They saw their peers just down the road in Concord dancing in their school’s courtyard. Concord High, nearly twice as big as Pembroke academy created an opportunity to keep a popular tradition alive.
“Our friends are telling us that they had one,” Behrle said. “I’m sad because I’ve never gone to one before, and I feel like we should have one.”
Welcome to yet another COVID-caused concern. This one about homecoming dances held or not held, depending on the school district. Pembroke’s was canceled, which is why a still-growing pool of 15 students, including 14 girls and one boy, and their parents have allied themselves in an effort to stage their own Homecoming Dance.
Pembroke school officials see something else – a dangerous variant of the coronavirus that led to four new cases at the high school this week. It’s their job to keep students safe, they said.
Headmaster Dr. Dan Morris explained that caution was needed in order to safely hold a dance, as well as money and the proper equipment. The logistics of moving the indoor event outside were more difficult than the public knew, he wrote in an email.
Further, he noted that all other activities for Homecoming Week, starting Monday, had been planned for outside from the start and would be held as usual. That was certainly better than last year, when homecoming was scuttled as classes remained remote.
But when students from one school saw students from three other schools making memories for themselves, frustration began to grow in Pembroke hallways and homes.
The Pembroke students, mostly girls, asked themselves, why not us? Was the air in Concord, a mere 10 miles away, safer than the air in Pembroke?
Supporters of a school-held dance believe they have a strong case. Strong enough, in fact, to push the school to reconsider its decision or hold their own event.
“They see other kids in their formal attire and posing for pictures for homecoming,” said Brenda Landry, whose daughter, Rylee Landry, is a junior at Pembroke Academy. “A few of us moms are coordinating something for these kids. They were upset.”
Added Rylee, “To sit back and watch others have the dance at Concord High made me feel sad. I don’t see any problem doing it outside.”
It’s rarely black and white, of course. On one level, in a standoff that attaches political party to views on masks, medical data from both camps is cited, oftentimes spun, recited with heels firmly and stubbornly planted in the soil.
Parents and students who want to see a homecoming dance go forward cited the decreased chances of getting infected while outside. They say the numbers of cases have been blown out of proportion, made to appear dire. The variant doesn’t scare them.
And, besides, the other homecoming activities are on schedule. The cross country meet Tuesday. The flag football tournament Thursday. The field hockey and girls’ soccer games Friday. The boys’ two soccer games and the football game Saturday.
Why not the dance?
“Schools are having homecomings,” said Haiden’s mother, Karla Goodwin. “I understand that COVID is a thing, but kids are jammed-packed in the lunchroom and hallways, and they play sports and are in each other’s faces. I’m not understanding where the school is coming from.”
Headmaster Dr. Dan Morris mapped out his side in a detailed email. His view of data runs counter to what others are saying.
“Unfortunately, ever since COVID began,” Morris wrote, “we have not been able to safely hold a dance indoors and that certainly hasn’t changed with our current levels of community transmission.”
Logistics were cited as well. Students say they’ve written to Morris, suggesting that a big tent would be a good starting point on the list of things needed to stage an alternative dance.
Not feasible, Morris said. First, the tent some have suggested he purchase to provide shelter was far too small to accommodate the hundreds of students who’d most likely attend.
“Tents (800 square feet) would accommodate approximately 25 students per tent,” Morris wrote, “and would in no way meet our needs.”
Morris mentioned that the dance is an annual fundraiser for the sophomore class and its senior trip. Adding costs will cut into the fundraising.
“The accommodations necessary for an outdoor Homecoming Dance are far too cost-prohibitive for the school to justify, or for the Sophomore Class to afford,” Morris said. “In fact, the Sophomore Class would lose a tremendous amount of money trying to put on a dance outdoors.”
Members of Team Homecoming Dance remain undaunted. They told Morris they’d raise the money themselves. They’d put feelers out, searching for a venue like the local Legion Hall to perhaps donate space. Maybe a local pizza joint would donate food.
And, maybe they could dance, with their school’s stamp of approval. Parents and students, however, say they’ve hit a brick wall, continuing a pandemic-related caution that hurts kids more than it helps them.
Robert Sirois and his son, Normand, a student at Pembroke Academy, are the lone males who have joined the group thus far.
“He told me about the dance and the disappointment in his voice was pretty heartbreaking,” Sirois said. “My son had the hardest time adjusting to high school, he had no friends and he was miserable, and they’re still not doing anything for the kids. They should have the opportunity to make these memories. It’s the only chance they’ll have in their lives.”
Concord High students got those memories. The school considered moving the dance to Memorial Field, or White Park. But with a new courtyard staring officials in the face, the answer was easy.
Lisa Lamb, the senior class co-advisor at Concord High, has been coordinating the work needed to stage its Homecoming Dance for 14 years.
Last Saturday night, rules were in place. Rules that were deemed safe and smart. Masks inside the school to use the bathroom or retrieve something from a coat or purse.
Outside, masks were optional.
“I was so impressed with the students’ behavior and how much fun these kids had,” Lamb said. “Sometimes the students leave early, but we had to ask them to leave this time.”
In Pembroke, hope remains high that the sides will join hands in some way, host a dance outside, with rules attached.
Rylee said she’s flexible: “There are plenty of things we could do to get around it. Mandate masks. If you’re vaccinated, bring your card, or get tested a few days before and bring your card.”
“Some girls are still talking about it,” Rylee added, “but they are not looking too far into it.”