Naperville Central held its annual homecoming dance at 7 p.m. on Oct. 2.

In efforts to maintain a safe environment, the dance was held outside on the track instead of inside the gymnasium, as it had been in previous years. After last year’s dance was cancelled due to COVID-19, administrators set on having a 2021 homecoming.

Planning the dance during a pandemic proved to be more than difficult.

“This year obviously was different,” said Dean of Student Activities Lynne Nolan. “Our problem with our dance is that we have 2,000 people. You would have to have a ginormous tent. Physically getting a tent like that and trying to figure out where and how to put it was not feasible.”

Now that neither inside the building or a tent outside were appropriate options, the deans considered housing the dance outside on the track.

“Our patio and cafeteria are like a tent, because you’d just be going underneath for concessions,”  Nolan said. “So then we decided let’s move it to where we did because we knew we were getting the stage. If we were going outside we needed some kind of a wow thing, so the stage was a great idea. It made it cool.”

Almost two thousand students, including hundreds of guests from other schools, attended.

“It was my first high school dance, so I didn’t really know what to expect,” sophomore Izabele Didzbalis said.

The location of the dance was a big concern for many people. Naperville Central has never hosted a dance outside, but many students enjoyed the arrangement.

“I actually like the way it was set up,” Didzbalis said. “Being outside, it was cooler, because when you’re dancing it gets hot and then you go off and it gets cool. I felt like there was more freedom, like we weren’t all cramped together and there was more open air… I really liked that.”

Senior class council sponsor Jeromy Bentley agreed.

“It was a lot of fun,” Bentley said. “ Outside, the venue felt better to be more liberating and feel like it was out under the stars instead of inside the fieldhouse.

Weather was another important factor that the administration considered. It was set to rain heavily that day, and because this year’s dance took place outside, the possibility of rain and thunder threw a wrench in the planning for the dance. It ended up raining at around 4 p.m., but the storm passed just in time for the dance at 7 p.m.

“I’m glad that it wasn’t cancelled,” Didzbalis said. “Especially as a sophomore, it’s like your first real high school dance, and lots of people were looking forward to it.” 

Administrators consider moving future dances outside as well.

“Weather permitting, in the future it’s possible that next dances will be held outside,” Bentley said.