(May 24, 2013) — Music blared as the DJ blended one track into the next, encouraging students to stay on the dance floor. Nearly 100 juniors participated in Monte Carlo night, as an opportunity to see friends out of uniform and to help raise money for the senior prom. The event is held by the junior class almost every year; the Monte Carlo theme was used to entice more students into coming to the dance, with the promise of blackjack and teachers dealing cards at the tables.

For a few years, the school had not held the spring dance, because not enough students would attend. However, the Monte Carlo theme made the event more appealing to a wider range of students in all grade levels.

Spending time with friends is the number one reason students take the opportunity to go to the dance. Shareece Shahbazian had made plans to go with her close group of friends. Adding a bit of gambling with friends and teachers also helped liven the night. “The overall dance is fun, and the music is great to dance to,” she said. “But the highlight of the night was definitely seeing teachers like Mr. Pruitt dressed up and dealing at the blackjack tables.”

The opportunity to do a variety of activities also helped make the night memorable. “The choices between dancing, sitting with friends, or playing blackjack made the night more enjoyable because my friends and I weren’t stuck doing the same thing the entire time,” said Shahbazian.

The dance went on for about four hours, finally coming to an end at around 11 p.m. Girls were slipping heels back on after having removed them dancing earlier. “Despite the fact that we have a small student body, the amount of people at the dance was perfect. There was good music and great company. I think that night was a success,” Shahbazian said.