As homecoming attendees were slowly admitted to the dance Oct. 12 via an online ticket platform, a line of elegantly-dressed students began to wrap around the school. Most waited in line for about 30 minutes before they were admitted.
The platform, called Omella, emailed students a QR code after they bought their ticket. The night of the dance, teachers scanned codes at the door. Student Council hoped this would speed up entrances and make ticket sales easier, according to senior Xavier Wilson, a StuCo officer.
Instead, the platform gave many students only partial QR codes or wasn’t connected to their names for verification, according to StuCo sponsor Jill Gibson. The Wi-Fi was also shaky, which caused issues for the teachers scanning codes with their phones.
“My reaction was, ‘I need to jump in and help in whatever way I can,’” Mrs. Gibson said. “I got a laptop so I could check in people who never got the email. That was another thing – a lot of kids never got the email because they gave us the wrong email address.”
An hour into the event, the gym was nearly empty, according to senior StuCo officer Josie Rutledge. She arrived at EHS 30 minutes early to set up decorations and was “incredibly concerned” when she didn’t see the usual rush of students arriving shortly after her.
“I found out that it was a QR code issue when I got a text from a friend saying she’d been in line for almost an hour,” Rutledge said. “I went to see [Mrs.] Gibson to talk about it, and when I went into the lobby it was insanely crowded and people were shouting things to do.”
Omella was problematic throughout the whole sales process, per Rutledge. She said that when StuCo registered students in the cafeteria, they only managed to get a few signed up per lunch period because of the lagging platform, while long lines formed at the booth.
“It was so complicated, and we could feel everyone’s frustration growing each day we did it,” Rutledge said. “We had a bunch of people asking why we didn’t do stickers, and honestly, I’m still not sure why.”
The decision to try online tickets was an executive one from Mrs. Gibson and her fellow sponsor, Tricia Gray. Wilson said no StuCo members objected, and he understood why they decided to try it out.
Senior Lucy Schapman, StuCo president, said neither she nor anyone else knew about the switch until the day of or day before tickets went on sale.
“I knew Mrs. Gibson and [Mrs.] Gray had talked about it, so I wasn’t worried about it,” Schapman said.
Throughout the evening, Interim Principal Alex Fox chatted with students waiting in line. He emailed parents around 8 p.m. that night to apologize for the delay and eventually extended the dance past its scheduled end-time.
“I think the kids handled it great,” Fox said. “Once I noticed those delays, I went out, talked to the students, [and] let them know what was going on. But ultimately, I tried to mitigate it by just extending the dance out some beyond the 9:30 time to make up for the time that was lost in the line.”
Senior Laney Spaulding waited in the line for 30 minutes with her date. She said it wasn’t a big deal because most people also entered the school late, so she didn’t miss anything “important.”
“People seemed lightly annoyed, but for the most part it was fine,” Spaulding said. “We were all hanging out together no matter if we were inside or outside in the line, so maybe it ticked other people off, but I really didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”
Mrs. Gibson said she and Mrs. Gray plan to improve upon this year’s experience by stationing more teachers at the check-in point if possible, and they’ve considered bringing stickers back.
“There’s just growing pains anytime there’s a new system,” Mrs. Gibson. “Everybody’s learning it. Everyone’s figuring it out.”
Wilson said he was “disappointed” that Omella delayed entrances, but his homecoming was enjoyable regardless.
“As an officer in charge of co-leading the foods and commons decorating group, I was very happy with how the photo booth, table and food vendors turned out,” Wilson said. “As an attendee of homecoming, I had a good time dancing with my friends and getting pictures. A line shouldn’t be a reason to have a bad night.”