The Halloween Dance

So this time around, I don't know about you, but I didn't get the memo on the dance. My son informed me that I was required to bring something edible. Another student told me that set-up would be around 6:30 pm. Beyond that I was aware that students would be there in various states of dress. Digging for information in the office, I learned that Henry and David would be on site. Otherwise I had nothing to work with.

Therefore I took it upon myself to volunteer to chaperone. My son was not too terribly enthused, but was tolerant, particularly as I came with cookies and not in costume. He didn't even protest when I brought my camera. Generally I think my presence was unremarkable and this was fine with me. Portia, Jay and Jimena came for good portions of the time. We definitely had enough chaperones on deck. Students decorated the auditorium, set up a strobe light and ran the sound system with appropriate music for the evening. The combination of the loud music and the strobe were pretty intense from my perspective (must be my advanced age…) so I both steered clear of the auditorium and wondered what would happen with the more visually and aurally sensitive students in the mix.

As it worked out, the music and light effects were a draw for most of the kids, but they adjusted their exposure as necessary. Groups of students danced and snacked in the auditorium, and then would drift outside to the courtyard to chat and goof off. Other kids would then spend time in the auditorium dancing and moving to the music. At some point they did some lip sinking. Everybody seemed to be having a very enjoyable time. Although this was a mixed middle-school and high-school aged group, the vibe was definitely of highly congenial, low density middle school. Given the types of students we have, this is appropriate and to me, quite poignant. Many if not all of these students would not be comfortable at a comparable public school dance party. My son would be very unlikely to go at all. The sheer numbers of kids would overwhelm him, never mind the potential social shenanigans he could run afoul of.

I would like to personally thank Bridge for providing the gentle space in which our students can safely express themselves socially at something so sweet as this dance.

I also want to personally thank whoever brought the sushi. The sliced apples were delicious too.

Happy Halloween!