As Floridians everywhere stock up on food and water, students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas stock up on spirit. With the news of Hurricane Irma heading for a tentative collision course with South Florida, students are left to trade in their tuxedos for ponchos.
Due to recent storm advisories all schools in Broward County will be closed Thursday Sept. 7 and Friday Sept. 8 for the safety of students and faculty. This means that all spirit week activities past Wednesday have been postponed tentatively to take place the first week of November.
Assistant Principal Winfred Porter announced on Tuesday Sept. 5 that the official date for the Homecoming Dance has been moved to Saturday Nov. 4. This week has been chosen for the primary reason of the availability of the traditional Homecoming venue, the Harbor Beach Marriott.
“The Harbor Beach Marriott discussed with the school the chosen date was the only possible date that correlated with our home game schedule,” Porter said.
Porter additionally indicated that if school and the Homecoming Dance were to continue uninterrupted, the safety of the students—a priority of the MSD administration—could be in jeopardy.
The date chosen, although previously stated as the only option for rescheduling, poses controversy because of its correlation with several school functions already scheduled for the same date.
The same weekend introduces the Douglas Drama production of Fiddler on the Roof from Thursday Nov. 2 to Saturday Nov. 4. Furthermore, Saturday brings the journalism department of MSD to the Florida Scholastic Press Association District 7 Convention (FSPA), taking place at Nova Southeastern University. Finally, the DECA ELS leadership conference and a marching band competition are also being held on the same day. Whether the change in date will affect overall Homecoming attendance is yet to be seen.
“It was ok that they changed the date but they should have picked a day where there was no after school functions,” junior Sydney Shteif said.
As for the rest of spirit week, Wednesday is to continue lunch activities while Thursday and Friday events have been postponed to November along with the dance.
For those looking for a silver lining before they come into contact with the storm, just remember in the words of Porter, “Spirit Week goes on.”
