Written by Jane Scupham, principal 
Do you remember your first dance? Do you remember spending hours picking out what you were going to wear? How your hair should look? Who you would ask to dance? Do you remember worrying that you wouldn’t be asked? Did you plan what wall you were going to try to fade into? Do you remember that wonderful, exhilarating mix of excitement and dread you had as you walked into the dance?
Last Friday evening the middle school held their Back-to-School dance from 6:00 to 8:00 and I’m certain that all of the above mentioned anxieties occurred to one or more of the students in attendance. The room mothers did a wonderful job transforming the cafeteria into a dance hall with flashing lights. Tables were covered in purple and pink, and the inviting aroma of warm pizza filled the room as students began to arrive. It was fun to see the students dressed in their “regular” clothes; no uniforms tonight! Each entrance brought a new wave of excitement and a rush of giggling middle schoolers.
After pizza and pop, the lights dimmed and the music was cranked up. A call to “circle up” was made and lead couples were chosen to begin the first bell dance of the evening. Whoops and cheers followed each announcement (“Don’t forget to leave room for the Holy Spirit!”), and soon the first couples were dancing (rather zombie like, but dancing none the less) around the cafeteria. The bell was rung and each couple split to find new partners. The dance continued with the bell being rung for each change until the entire middle school student body was out on the dance floor. No wallflowers here, everyone danced, some boys with 2 or 3 girls on their arms to make up for the discrepancy in the boy/girl mix. The evening was well underway. Two hours of fun was in store for both the dancers and the adult chaperones, who watched and remembered their own first middle school dance.