This year’s Homecoming dance did not follow Spartan tradition. For all of Athens Academy history, the dance has always been held on campus, but this year, a last minute change meant that the dance took place at 1051 Baxter, an event space that typically hosts weddings and other gatherings.
Mrs. Farmer, the Dean of Upper School Student Life, explains that the reason for the change was due to the Baseball Facility already being occupied during the time of homecoming. She says that the dance “has always been on campus,” but that the baseball facility “was not available to us this year due to it being rented out by the UGA Baseball team.” Since they had to find a new location at the last minute, Mrs. Farmer says, “We were lucky to find 1051 Baxter… and from what I observed and heard, the students were happy with it!”
When asked about the dance experience, the student’s had a wide range of opinions about the location change. The consensus across campus was that the general majority of students enjoyed mixing it up with a new venue.
Weston Smart, a junior at Athens Academy, felt that the new venue brought everyone together more than in past years. He says, “I liked the new venue better because it was super nice, and it was smaller so everyone was more packed in instead of super spread out like it usually is in the baseball facility.”
On the other hand, some people prefer to keep the tradition of having the dance on campus. Senior Oswaldo Rivera says that although the new venue was still fun, “I still think we should continue having our homecoming at the Baseball Facility because that’s what we’ve always done in the past, and it’s a tradition that we should continue.”
And some had no opinion at all.Senior Caroline Fowler expresses her opinion about the joys of homecoming regardless of the venue. She says, “Honestly, all of my homecoming dances have been really fun, and I don’t really think the venue is the thing that impacts how fun the dances are.”
All in all, it sounds like the students had fun (and will have fun) no matter where the party is!
