The variety show at Staples High School is an experience revered by students and faculty alike. Boasting a performance of vast and unique talents, the annual event has grown to become something the entire school looks forward to throughout the busy school year.

However, since the senior internship program has evolved to have widespread participation in recent years, the Student Assembly has faced difficulty scheduling a date that would include seniors yet also avoid conflicts regarding missed class time.

“Everything from athletes missing the last 15 to 30 minutes of class to get on the bus for an away game, to Players students missing class during hell week, to K2BK kids missing class to go to elementary schools to talk about being kind, to individual class field trips, to Grim Reaper Day causes concern to teachers,” Principal John Dodig said. “It is our goal to strike an appropriate balance.”

In order to address interruptions to instructional time, Dodig has enforced the rule that no new assemblies should be introduced to Staples without removing something in its place. Thus in order to accommodate the effective use of class time, the variety show will now become an evening event.

According to Trudi Denton, the adviser of the Student Assembly, the show will likely take place from 7:00-8:30 at night. In addition to incorporating faculty acts, the event will also be combined with the Run for the Sun, a fundraiser for Staples tuition grants.

“I think we will have more diversity in our audience for sure: parents can come, friends can come, families can come,” Denton said, excited by the new prospect of attendance.

However, students did not react with the same enthusiasm as Denton. According to a poll 80.81% of students said that they would not attend the show. An anonymous responder claimed “the beauty of the variety show is that it uses school time to force students to recognize each others’ talents. If students did that on their own time anyway, we wouldn’t need to hold a variety show in the first place.”

Sammy Troy ’15 agreed with the results of the survey, pointing to inconvenience and a lack of support.

“It’s something to look forward to and having it at night will cause fewer students to show up. It’s a fun event, but it’s not big enough that it would draw people to come back to school,” Troy said.