The doors open and sounds of music and laughter echo through the air, inviting students to join in on the fun. Lights dance across the walls, decorations lining each crevice with festivity. The

venue brims with students. The enjoyment floods the surroundings as students get to experience the excitement of the Valentine’s Day dance. 

The introduction of this  new dance, through the help of Student Government, was brought to the school to spread friendship and love for this holiday and to generate excitement amongst students so they can take a break from learning and have a great time with their friends. 

“SGA noticed that there’s a lack of community in the school amongst the kids,” Devin Jackson, SGA president said. “They need help getting along with each other and why not with the dance? It helps bring kids together.” 

Behind the scenes, SGA arranged and executed this event from the bottom up with the support and creativity of the whole staff, hoping to achieve their goal of seeing kids enjoy themselves during this event. 

“The goal we wanted to reach as Student Government is not only a fundraising opportunity for the organization and for the school, we wanted to create an activity where students can simply have fun and be with their friends,” Shakendra Moorer, SGA adviser said. 

With  the help of SGA advisers Moorer, Amanda Gordon, an eighth-grade language arts teacher, and Shawn Henderson, a visual arts teacher, the Valentine’s Dance was successfully executed. They listened to the students’ ideas and were dedicated to assembling this dance as a team. 

“We have meetings with SGA and we counsel the students. So they came up with a date, they came up with different ideas as far as the dance was concerned,” Henderson said.  “ What I liked most about the dance was seeing the kids come in all excited, they just seemed like they had a good time.” 

A lot of thought went into bringing this special occasion to life, including snacks, songs, a booth to take videos and photos, providing a DJ and decorating the cafeteria for a smashing success. 

“They really paid attention to what music the kids liked and I was really looking forward to dancing with my friends,” Milania Bobba, seventh-grade visual arts major said. “ I think what made it a great experience was the people there. Everybody was in a good mood and happy.” 

Not only was this social event made for students to bond and enjoy themselves in a school environment, but SGA was able to benefit from the use of the Valentine’s grams. These grams were little gifts that students could purchase to be  delivered to their  friends as a fundraiser for SGA. The money raised  will be recycled for school pep rallies and other events such as the Spring Dance that was held on April 14th.

“Valentine’s grams was a fundraiser for the dance and for SGA in order to build more projects so we could do more fun things,” Drew Blackwell, sixth-grade SGA representative said. “ [The Spring Dance is] going to be a really great time and there’s going to be a lot of dance and fun games.” 

With a bigger venue, the Spring Dance took place in the gym, taking this event up a whole other level. With more tickets came the opportunity for more people to attend, allowing others who didn’t join last time to have a blast with their friends in an upbeat way. 

“We’re running it up a notch to make it more exciting and more inclusive. Students in this are going to have a lot of fun,” Henderson said.