In past years, the school’s homecoming ticket prices, in the range of $10-$15, have often been considerably lower than the prices at other local schools, which charge closer to $20-$30.

This year, though, there will be a slight spike in the price, with the tickets now being priced at $20 for the week of Sept. 17-Sept. 23 and $25 for the week of Sept. 24-Sept. 29.

However, the spike in the price is because a long-awaited change is being made to the 2018 homecoming dance: a new DJ.

After six years of hiring the same DJ, Student Leadership believed it was time to adjust based on feedback from students who asked for a switch after experiencing other schools’ homecoming dances.

“I think people found this DJ because they performed at Stevenson [High School] and Evanston [High School] homecomings in the past, and that’s how we found them is through the recommendations,” said Isabel Sioson, sophomore class president.

This year’s DJ, called My Boom Tour, is a DJ for the B96 radio station and has performed at many local high schools, including the ones listed above.

“They will bring a fully personalized stage, advanced lighting and a very detailed song request list,” Sophomore Class Sponsor Cynthia Henrichs stated in an email.

The upgrades don’t end there.

“There’s a lot of add-ons you can use. For example, they offer making your own posters [and] photo booths,” Sioson said.

According to the My Boom Tour website, organizations can also purchase the use of CO2 cannons, confetti blasters and streamer cannons, but these add-ons are not guaranteed for this year’s homecoming dance.

Student Leadership representatives said they are hoping to make the experience for MHS students more memorable by allowing students to recommend songs that will be played by the DJ during the dance.

“There is going to be a song request sheet link sent to students’ emails to request songs. Once we send it out, we will start promoting it and start telling people to add the songs that they want,” said Sophomore Class Vice President Sucely Marcos.

To enact this change for homecoming, the school held a meeting open to any MHS student who wanted to discuss school-wide issues and concerns.

“We had a school-wide meeting, and we basically just raised our hands to vote yes or no to a new DJ,” Marcos said. “Then, from there, [Henrichs] said that the price of tickets would go up, and everyone said they were okay with it.”

Additionally, students who bought tickets within the first week of sales, Sept. 17-Sept. 23, were entered into a raffle for VIP room passes that will be filled with food, drinks and sweets that only students who won the raffle will have access to.

Despite what students’ current thoughts on the price increase might be, Student Leadership has asked the student body to hold off on making those opinions until after experiencing the dance on Oct. 6 from 7-10 p.m. at MHS.

“We ask that the students are willing to give the process a chance and withhold judgement until after the event,” Henrichs stated. “We are responding to student demands to improve the dance experience, and we are trying our best to give the students what they are asking for.”