Leadership students Alea Dukes and Kayleen Millard sell tickets to their peers, who are excited to attend the Wish Week dance. photo by Farah Djama
On February 10th, TJ will host a winter dance to support a nine year-old girl’s dream to go to Disney world.
To kick off the new year, Thomas Jefferson will host a winter dance based around the concept of Wish Week. On February 10th from 8-11pm, students from TJ will be making dreams come true. These dreams include sending Haven, a nine year-old girl from the Make-A-Wish foundation, to Disney World.
After a spirit week of Disney-themed days, students will come to TJ to enjoy a Disney dance titled “Where Dreams Come True.” All proceeds from the dance and other spirit week activities will go to Haven and kids like her. To encourage participation in the dance, tickets are less expensive than homecoming; singles tickets are only $10 and a doubles ticket is $15. In addition to fundraising, this dance will also continue to increase school spirit. With TJ’s very own Japanese teacher and Black Student Alliance (BSA) sponsor Kyler Jackson as DJ, the music will keep students entertained along with decorations consisting of navy blue, white, and hints of silver to stay on brand with the Disney theme.
Throughout the year, TJ puts on many school events to get students excited for their high school community: the Bonfire, Multicultural night, the Backyard Bash, the Haunted Hallway, volleyball tournaments, and the new dance. These activities are planned by Leadership students who have various fields of interests in order to create fun that appeals to the entire student body. This dance has been meticulously crafted to be inclusive of everyone.
For example, this dance varies from previous dances because there will be royalty in every grade. This means that two students from the freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior classes will be crowned at the end of the night. They will be given the title of King and Queen, Prince and Princess, Duke and Duchess, and Viscount and Viscountess based on their grade. At other dances like Homecoming and Prom, the nominees are decided by coaches and teachers. However, at the “Where Dreams Come True” dance, the royalty will be decided by the student body. Around the school, there are QR codes that can be scanned to nominate any deserving student within the same grade. Once chosen, the top nominees will then be voted on by everyone at the dance in order to crown a portion of the student body by the night’s end. “We are having royalty in each grade in order to make the dance more inclusive, and stand out from others,” explained junior Leila Olbricht-Simon, a Leadership student who helped to plan the dance. As a community, TJ feels that it is important to create as many opportunities for underclassmen to feel involved in order to have students enjoy their high school experience and want to succeed beginning in freshman year.
The dress code will be comparable to homecoming, which means semi-formal. This can be interpreted however the student wants, but some examples of what to wear would consist of dresses or dress pants and a button down. Make sure to check local thrift stores like Goodwill for an affordable outfit because, with Prom so close, buying multiple formal outfits can become expensive. However, as always, how the student would like to dress is entirely up to them.
The best way to enjoy the high school experience is to get involved. There is no point in looking back, regretting a lack of participation in high school events. So enjoy the time at high school dances and support a bigger cause than any individual student. As Olbricht-Simon said, “It is important to attend the dance because going helps TJ raise money to help Haven’s dream come true. Also, the dance will be a lot of fun, and will help build up TJ’s community!”
