School dances are undoubtedly a crucial part of the high school experience, and the RBHS Student Council (StuCo) dedicates a lot of time, resources and energy to making school dances fun for students.
Senior and vice president of StuCo, Quosiah Lawal, believes that school dances should be appreciated more for what they are, given the lack of engagement beforehand from the student body.
StuCo puts a lot of its time into planning for school dances, with the first decision being the theme. The theme is the most fickle part of planning, because StuCo must figure out where to apply it and how.
“The first thing we usually decide on [is] the theme, and we usually just vote amongst the people who [are a part of] Student Council,” Lawal said. “Then we pick which spirit days fit that theme.”
When planning spirit week, StuCo already has two themes set in stone—Pajama Day and Bruin Gear Day. After that, StuCo picks the other spirit days, keeping in mind what the student body enjoys and what trends are popular for that year. It will often send out a form for input on spirit days.
“We have different committees [in StuCo], like [the] committee [that] works on the assembly,” Lawal said. “[There’s also] the dance committee, which orders decorations and [plans dances].”
Once everything is ordered and planned, StuCo will usually go in and double-check that everything is in order. This helps prevent last-minute changes and missing things when it comes time for the dance. Finally, on the day of the dance, StuCo will go in at 10 a.m. and begin setting up for homecoming or courtwarming.
StuCo provides many opportunities for students to have a say in the planning, often sending out forms for music suggestions or spirit day themes. Most of the time, though, they receive minimal or unserviceable answers Lawal said. Still, StuCo emphasizes planning for what they think students want, like when they hired a younger DJ to play music more in line with the student body’s taste. StuCo is open to suggestions and criticism, but they’re aware that it’s nearly impossible to please everybody.
“Sometimes we’re here every Tuesday after school, trying to get decorations and [other stuff ordered],” Lawal said. “And simply, I wish we had more of [the student body’s] opinions.”
StuCo feels that communication is key for planning events. In order to meet the general expectations for school dances, StuCo needs to know these expectations first. Another factor that may go into these experiences is each student’s grade level. Lawal feels that the more you experience school dances, the more likely you are to feel bored or let down. RBHS has seen a decline in ticket sales since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amanda Perkins, an RBHS activities secretary, said that “ticket sales have gone down since COVID” because right after COVID-19 started to slow down, students were eager to get out and do normal school things that they previously weren’t able to do under lockdown. Despite lower ticket sales, the quality of school dances has seen an increase over time.
RBHS senior Sophia Hartle said she feels that school dances have had a noticeable increase in quality over recent years, finding herself enjoying the vibe, decorations and music choices more.
“I feel like [the quality of RBHS dances] has gone up,” Hartle said. “It did kind of like a downward swoop during [my] sophomore year, though I really like it. The music this year was really good, better than most.”
However, Hartle feels that even though she enjoys most aspects of the dances, StuCo could still improve in areas like activities or music. Hartle said she particularly liked dances where she felt like there was a uniqueness to the activities or a fun theme, like the red carpet theme from her sophomore year.
“I feel [like] there could be more themed activities,” Hartle said. “Like the red carpet one from [my] sophomore year, where they had an actual red carpet and photo booth.”
Ultimately, while school dances may not be for everyone and people may have differing opinions, that doesn’t change all the time or effort StuCo puts into planning and creating these dances for the student body to enjoy. StuCo provides ample opportunities for students to have their say in planning dances, but receive minimal engagement until everything is said and done. StuCo is open to student opinions and encourages engaging with school activities, but in the end, how students look at dances is never the same from person to person.
“We take [criticism] really seriously because it’s like we’re letting [the student body] down, but we don’t want them to feel let down,” Lawal said. “At the same time, you have to remember that somebody’s going to hate, no matter what you do. They don’t realize all that goes into planning for spirit weeks and school dances.”
