Eden Gentry

Staff Writer

While last year’s Homecoming Dance took place in the aux gym, this year, we got a major upgrade by being able to host the dance at Bryson Gym. One caveat: because the gym floor got recently redone, typical formal shoes would potentially ruin the floor. The solution: sneakers only.

Many students had mixed emotions about not getting to wear more traditional footwear, but for me I had no problem with it. The sneaker ball was a lot of fun and when it all came down to it, what shoes I was wearing wouldn’t have changed my experience. I had a good time with my friends, and that’s all that mattered in the end.

“Even if it weren’t a sneaker ball, I’d still probably not wear heels because they get really uncomfortable,” senior Kat Edwards said. “I’m kind of happy I don’t even have to worry about my feet hurting.”

While some students are excited about not having sore feet, others are upset over it ruining their outfits.

“I’m mad because I had the perfect outfit and shoes to wear and now I can’t even wear them,” sophomore Markerra Bodney said. “I had gym last year and always wore boots and heels. Why is it suddenly a problem now? I’m just not going anymore because I want to feel beautiful and wear what I had already intended to wear. Now I can’t and it sucks.”

Some parents think a sneaker ball is a good idea not only to protect the floors but to save money. For households that might not have the extra money to go out and buy a formal outfit, sneakers that they already have are a perfect solution.

“I would have loved this when I was in high school because as a teen my family didn’t have any extra money to spend,” parent Veronica Brady said. “So the idea of not having to dress formally, spending tons of money that you don’t have and just finding something cute out of your closet sounds like a good solution for low-income families whose kids still want to go to the formal events for their school.”

For me, the sneaker ball was actually really fun because, in the end, it didn’t matter about my shoes when I was dancing with my friends. I had an extremely good time and it was still one of the best nights of my high school experience. I’m looking forward to future dances and homecomings in my two years left at RJR because this years homecoming week was one of the best of my sophomore year so far.