This year, the traditional homecoming dance in Curtis was replaced with “Night Under the Stars,” a name thought of by Sara Filip. It was held on Friday, November 14, from 7:30 to 11 p.m. in the boys gym.

S.O. President Beth McGinley said, ¨It would be wrong to associate the dance with homecoming because the football players don’t come.” The football team was unable to attend because they had a game against Canarsie Educational Campus scheduled the next day and needed to rest and conserve their energy. For this same reason, last year’s homecoming dance was replaced as well with the ¨Black and White Fall Ball,¨ To try and solve this problem, the S.O. had discussed  moving the dance to a Saturday, but concluded that attendance would be higher on a Friday.

¨This year’s dance was better organized and better advertised,¨ said Mr. Sicilian. ¨The chaperones were wonderful; over 30 staff members volunteered. But the tickets didn’t sell.¨ When asked why he thought fewer students were attending, he said, ¨It’s been dropping every year. I’m not sure kids like school dances any more.¨

This year 116 students attended the dance, including the decorations committee.  Last year the number was a little under 200.

“The dance was a huge success. The kids that attended all had a great time and we will continue the tradition next year in spite of having a severe loss in attendance,” said Mr. Sicilian.

Nafiul Bahri, a junior in Curtis, said, ¨I went because I had to show some love and support to my underclassmen. . . . I wanted to see and get to know the new members that joined our Curtis family.¨

Despite not being a homecoming, ¨Night Under the Stars¨ still had a Court that recognized both a king and queen. According to Mr. Sicilian, there was a ¨full slate¨ of students running for positions in the Court, except freshmen who didn’t submit petitions.

Although most schools have stopped with dances altogether, there is still a number of high schools who continue to have events for homecoming. New Dorp High School, for example, always has a football game before its dance. The teachers  also created and posted a video on Youtube that shows teachers, staff members, and students dancing in school to Taylor Swift’s ¨Shake It Off.¨ Tottenville High School, whose homecoming was on November 8, had a traditional football game before the dance held at 7 p.m. that night.