Homecoming, Morp, and Prom seem like they take forever to prepare for.  Inviting a date, buying the perfect dress or suit, planning pre-dance and post-dance festivities with friends, and purchasing tickets can be especially stressful preparations to these dances, as they must be done in advance.

There’s only one group of people who must start preparing for these dances even earlier than students: the StuCo Dance Committee, a group of NASH students who are dedicated to planning all the school-sponsored dances.

Patrick Upton, StuCo Sergeant-at-Arms, serves as the Dance Committee Head . 

“There are only about ten people in the actual dance committee,” said Upton. “Planning is typically run by me, but the other officers help out with finding businesses to support the dances, and the committee members are always there to help out with decorating. The whole student council helps out with planning too.”

Planning high school dances is a very daunting task, with many obstacles to overcome throughout the process. Some of the biggest challenges are budgeting, building decorations, and especially time management.

“Time management is definitely the biggest obstacle we have to overcome when planning a school dance,” said Upton. “All the members of Student Council and the Dance Committee have so many other things going on in their lives, such as sports, clubs, and other extracurriculars, that make finding time to build and buy decorations a struggle.”

To fully prepare in time for the big day, the committee must start many months in advance.

Upton added, “We always start planning at least a couple months in advance of the actual day of the dance. For Homecoming, we start planning about three to four months before the actual dance. We do that because we have to plan the Homecoming parade before the football game, in addition to the dance. For Morp, it takes about 2-3 months of planning.”

Held in mid-February, right around Valentine’s Day, Morp is also known as Sadie Hawkins, TWIRP, or Sweethearts.  For this dance, girls traditionally ask boys, the opposite of what typically occurs at Homecoming and Prom.

“We started planning for MORP a few months ago,” said Upton. “Morp is generally the easier dance to plan since we only have to take care of the dance, whereas with Homecoming, we have to plan both the Homecoming parade and the dance.”

Next time you’re attending a school dance here at NASH, take the time to think about how much hard work was put into the experience.  And considering offering a word of thanks.

“It’s a lot of work,” said Upton, “but I’m happy to be a part of the Dance Committee this year.”