11. The Dance

11. The Dance

This we believe (NMSA, 2010)

    *The school environment is inviting, safe, inclusive, and supportive of all. School Environment

We had a dance yesterday. It lasted from 3:30 – 5:30. Tickets were sold during lunch and then the last ten minutes of the school day. No tickets were sold at the door.  (One nice thing about an after-school dance is that parents can pick their children up after work.)

School is dismissed at 3:00 and bus riders leave at 3:10. Car riders are dismissed at 3 and it usually takes about 30 minutes to get them loaded. Students heading to the dance lined up in their hallways (sitting down) and were supervised by teachers. Once the car riders and bus riders emptied the grounds, students were dismissed one grade level at a time to enter the cafeteria. Pizza slices, popcorn, sodas, chocolate, and other candy were sold. The dance was in the gym, which is next to the cafeteria. A teacher was the disk jockey (DJ). Lights were off in the gym, and music blasted for two hours.

The nice thing about having the cafeteria next to the gym is that drinks, and candy, pizza, and popcorn stayed in the lunchroom. Two teachers monitored the cafeteria, pre-bussing for two hours. Three of us were in concessions; the DJ was in the gym, and other teachers roamed the gym, monitoring students as they danced, ran around, congregated, and socialized.  I almost think it should be called “social;” but dance is good.

At the end of the dance, students were allowed to go to their lockers and were sifted out one set of doors to make supervision easier.  Teachers and administrators monitored the lockers gently moving students out. They were released to where car riders go and their parents came to get them. The principal and assistant principal were present the entire time and supervised children heading home. We do not have any children who walk to school, so administrators and teachers supervised bus riders until all were picked up.

My students told me that dances were more about drama than dancing. During the dance, my eighth graders were sitting in the cafeteria socializing. I asked if the drama was at a minimum. They smiled and assured me it was. While students were being dismissed, I asked groups if they had a good time. “Yes!” was the overwhelming response.

“Have a nice weekend Ms. Ruppert,” they smiled and floated out of the building. It is so nice to hear happy students heading toward the weekend.

I have witnessed dances across the southeast and I must say that unstructured time to socialize is an excellent tool for bonding. Having a dance as the backdrop allows for movement and conversations.  We must not overlook the need, not desire, but the need to socialize! (:

Advice:

1)   Dances must be planned and need all members of a team or grade level participating. Do not think it is acceptable to bail out of events. Students and teachers need you to be present.

2)   Consider how often dances will take place. I am thinking we will have a total of four dances. The sixth grade teachers planned the first one. The eighth-grade teachers planned the second. The Parent Teacher Association is planning the third, and the seventh-grade teachers are planning the fourth.

3)   We did not ban anyone from our school from the dance.

4)   Be present. Be patient. Enjoy the day with your students. Our main job is to keep our children safe. Supervision is everyone’s responsibility!