Homestead High School’s Homecoming dance, when the field house hosted about 990 students on Saturday, Oct. 11, raked in just under $6,000. The students’ money raised in ticket sales goes back into the Student Council account. However, according to Mrs. Dawn Pfaff, science teacher and Student Council co-adviser, the club does not look to the event for its own profit.

Student Council annually plans and executes multiple Homecoming activities, including the assembly, parade and dance. Matt Gresham, treasurer of Student Council, feels that the Student Council money is spent wisely. “The switch from scantron ballots to online voting through Moodle is saving a large amount of money. The money that had previously been spent on getting a full scantron for each kid to fill out only four bubbles is no longer wasted,” Gresham said.

Still, the costs of Homecoming events are only a fraction of the costs that Student Council takes on for school-wide activities. “We wouldn’t call it a fundraiser, but it is a moneymaker. It is really what pays for everything else throughout the year so that we can have cheap events for kids to participate in,” Mrs. Pfaff said.

A majority of remaining money from Homecoming will turn into funds for future school-wide events. According to Mrs. Pfaff, Student Council tries to lead an activity for the student body about every month of the school year, such as the KAPCO toy drive from Thanksgiving through December and the Blood Drive in May. “For every event, committees that need money are given a budget, and we always try to find the best prices to accommodate ourselves and make sure we stay a little under the budget,” Twinkle Dutta, Student Council secretary, said.

The only Student-Council-exclusive event remains the Homecoming-planning retreat. This August experience, funded in part by the previous Homecoming, provides the food and housing for about 25 Student Council members as they plan the next year’s Homecoming week. “My favorite part of Student Council is the fact that we are truly a student-run organization. I feel like the retreat is a great way to start off the year. It enables us to all get together and put everything on the table for how we are going to plan the best Homecoming yet,” Gresham said.