The 2023 Sadie Hawkins Dance that was held at Rally Square on March 17th was a “groovy” and excitement filled event that certainly made memories for all who attended. 

The event was jam packed with entertainment like photo booths and food trucks, and made sure to keep the party going with live music and a light show courtesy of DJ Nate for attendees to get their groove on on the dance floor.

“My favorite part about Sadies was being able to hang out and dance with my friends, as well as the photo booth,” commented Aislyn Holder, junior and member of CSF, “We took so many photos.” 

Unlike previous years, this year’s Sadies was held outside, and given the 70s throwback theme, there was a decent amount of expectations to be met when it came to the setting and decor, where the class council of 2023 certainly put in the time and effort.

“I’ve heard from a lot of students that they really enjoyed the DJ, and they were also happy with how it was decorated by the class council of 2023,” said Mr. George Jara, history teacher and class of 2023 advisor, about the general positive reception of the dance. 

Although the reception from attendees was overall positive in terms of the decor and lighting, some attendees felt the representation of the 70s theme could’ve been executed more faithfully in the music department. 

“I didn’t really think the 70s theme was well represented, there were no real 70s songs and it made it lackluster in that regard.” Said Erick Lopez, junior, although prefacing “The way the whole environment was set up was nice.” 

The overall positive response of the event is certainly also due in part to the attendees acting courteously to one another, welcoming other attendees and overall having the positivity that Arroyo students and staff expect of their fellow Knights. 

“The students were very nice, when they were entering and greeting each other, and when they were exiting, being very respectful of the staff,” Mr. Jara observed the students’ politeness.

Accordingly, the management by the staff went smoothly as well, as no notable hiccups or problems popping up ever stopped the party from continuing to cruise along smoothly. 

“Not at all, it all went pretty smoothly,” Mr. Jara remarked, when asked if anything went wrong that staff had to fix. 

One aspect that alleviated issues before they occurred was the use of wristbands to identify attendees when they entered or left.

When asked what advice he had for the class of 2024 when it is their turn to organize the Sadie Hawkins Dance, Mr. Jara noted “I think what really worked great was the wristbands in order to identify who was a student.” He additionally mentioned “It definitely helped against problems in the past like last Homecoming, we had a lot of people jumping over the fence.”

All in all, this year’s Sadie Hawkins Dance was a roaring success, but with the room for improvement still present, here’s to hoping next year’s is even better. 

Mr. Jara finally commented, “I didn’t attend last year’s Sadies, but I think we really did a great job this year, I hope it was even better.”