Senator and senior Sarah Alonso said she is working hard with the other senators to make this years Homecoming  week great. Along with the spirit days, they have planned the 5K walk/run, penny wars, “what would you do for a” Klondike bar games, decorating contests and playhouse building.

The school plans to hold the much-anticipated trike races  on Wednesday. During the school convocation  on Friday, the trike race finals will take place at the stadium.

According to Alonso, Friday will be a “Green Day” combining all blue and gold classes into one day. A convocation is scheduled for the afternoon to get students excited for the football game.

Assistant principal Amy Skeens-Benton said that there will only be a few alterations from last year.

“We are bringing back a Homecoming tradition this year that Carmel hasn’t done since 2001. I can’t say what it is yet though. It’s a surprise,” Alonso said. (As of our Sept. 9 press deadline, the Senate had not yet released information about this surprise.)

The Homecoming game will feature Carmel facing off against Lawrence North. Although the time is subject to change, the game is schedules to begin at 7 p.m.

On Saturday at 8 p.m., the Homecoming dance will take place. The theme this year is “Peace, Love and Greyhounds.”

CHS has recently adopted a new policy that allows only students attending this school to attend the dance and restricts outside students from participating. According to Skeens-Benton, there were 3,400 students at the Homecoming dance last year, which caused concerns among administrators about safety and security.

“We went and discussed the situation with the PTO, and it got to the point that safety had become a major concern. The only solutions were either to limit the dance to specific grade levels or to limit the outside guests, and so we made the second choice,” Skeens-Benton said.

However, Alonso said she thinks the new policy might upset some students, especially for those who are used to bringing people from other schools.

“I think that this new policy about not being able to bring people from other schools is a huge bummer,” Alonso said. “I know a lot of people who have boyfriends or girlfriends at other schools who aren’t even going to the dance now because they can’t bring them. I think we will see a lot of upperclassmen choosing not to go this year, thanks to this new rule. I was very shocked when it was announced because I brought some of my best friends from Brebeuf to Homecoming sophomore year. I wanted to share such an awesome experience with them. I think it’s sad that people won’t get to do that anymore.”

Despite the changes, Alonso said she looks forward to the rest of the week.

Alonso said, “It will be an eventful week that students at Carmel get to participate in. I dare say this will be the best Homecoming week we have seen in a while. I truly can’t wait.”