Vanessa Rodriguez

Homecoming King Francisco Saez reigns over homecoming with his girlfriend.

More than 500 students attended the homecoming dance this year; a student protest reduced student attendance.

According to Google Overview AI, 44% of Americans this year have attended a high school homecoming. It also says that about 50% of students say they will never go, finding it “dumb” or “lame.” Locally, at Morton East High School, only 13 out of 100 students said they attended homecoming; and out of the remaining 87 students, 56 of them said they did not attend out of protest.

“I was very excited when I found out I was Homecoming King. I really did not expect to win prior to me not winning any other year I have run. Although I do support the boycotting, I was kind of sad because there was little to almost nobody at homecoming, making it boring and leading to me leaving early,” said senior Francisco Saes.

This also connects to what junior Alexander Biesteros said.

“I have been to all of the homecomings so far, and there is no doubt that this one was a little off. It was a little sad that there were only a couple of people. I stayed till the end, but I really wanted to leave around 8 pm because people started being really provocative and started twerking and doing I don’t know what.  It really made me feel uncomfortable,” said junior Alexander Biesteros.

Junior Alexander Biesteros did go to homecoming but did not end up having a good time as expected. On the other hand, senior Maria Alejandra Tinoco Sandoval had a very strong reason for why she did not go.

“No, I did not attend homecoming this year. As a senior, I was genuinely looking forward to participating in all the school activities and making the most of my last year at Morton. However, when I looked around at what has been happening in our community, it did not feel right to celebrate. It was not just about skipping a dance. It became a statement of solidarity and unity among students. What truly mattered to me was the message we sent together: that we care for one another and that even in difficult times, we can choose to stand together. Skipping homecoming did not mean turning away from my school but turning toward my community,” said senior Maria Tinoco Sandoval.

Ms. Samata was also surprised that not a lot of people attended homecoming.

“This year we sold fewer tickets. We only sold about 500 to 600 tickets, but in previous years we sold about 1,000 to 1,500 tickets. So this year we were kind of shocked that not a lot of people were attending,” said Ms. Samata.

One of the students at Morton East, Cristian Moreno, happened to go to homecoming but as a worker for one of the grupos called Grupo 312.

“I kinda had an idea that I was going to work at homecoming even before all the boycotting stuff happened. I have never been to homecoming before. This time that I worked it was the first time. It was a little fun; there were just too many freshmen. I found out what everyone was thinking about it, and hearing everyone’s different opinions made me feel some type of way. I was just not sure if I wanted to go or not, but I did end up going,” said senior Cristian Moreno.

Another student got the VIP treatment and enjoyed the dance regardless of any issues surrounding it.

“I went to homecoming. I left a bit early, like around 10 to 10:30 p.m. Me and my girlfriend (Esperanza Morales — Junior) got to homecoming around 8 p.m. I enjoyed it. Since I had gotten the VIP pass, me and my girl were able to get free Rainbow Cone. It was fun, and me and my girlfriend danced for most of the night,” said sophomore Angel Meza.