VHHS students used to have the option to buy an activity pass, allowing them to enter non-ticketedschool sporting events. As of this school year, all students are able to enter non-ticketed events, as the pass is built into their student IDs for free.
Along with this, parents or guardians are now able to purchase a pass for themselves and their families to attend their child’s event without having to pay each time they go.
“Vernon Hills students get into a lot more things now for free. That was the district’s way of trying to reduce barriers between students attending events and supporting their friends,” Deborah Beagle, student activities director, said.
New changes to the activity pass have given students access to almost every sporting event for free. Now, students don’t have to worry about money being wasted if in some cases they can only stay at an event for a short period of time.
Beagle continued on to explain more of the details regarding the new activity pass.
“In general, events that incur a cost to host to run will still require a purchased ticket,” Beagle said. “[Some] examples
are school dances, in which ticket sales cover the cost of the DJ, snacks, or giveaways… IHSA athletic events and Fine Arts musicals, holiday concerts, and Orchesis.”
Seeing how dances, IHSA Athletics, and Fine Arts events require a purchased ticket online to reserve a seat or spot,
students and families cannot use their activity pass to cover the entrance fee. If it was a school game like football or basketball, students would be able to use their activity pass.
“The games being free makes it way more accessible to go. [When] going to away games, payment is always required,
which may turn away fans,” Jackson Lazar (12), a student who attends sporting events and participates in sports, said. Additionally, Lazar offered his perspective on student sections as a basketball and baseball player.
“[Games are] so much better when there’s a huge crowd there to hype up your team. It makes games more exciting for everyone there,” Lazar said. “Coming from someone on a sports team, [games are] more enjoyable when more people can come to watch [them].”