Mouth of the River

Complete with hearts in pink and red, the Valentine’s Day dance makes its debut at Oyster River High School (ORHS), this Friday the 6th of February in the multipurpose room (MPR).

The dance will be run by the sophomore student government but is open to attendance from any grade. Ticket sales have been slow, and student enthusiasm has been low, but both the sophomore government and school dance lovers are hopeful that this could be turned around.  

The idea of adding another dance for fundraising was brought up at a sophomore government meeting last year, but never ended up happening. This year, when class t-shirt sales were down, the idea came back up and Principal Rebecca Noe was in strong support. Caroline Sterndale (’28), a member of the student senate, says that the sophomore government has received a lot of feedback from students hoping for more school dances. Sterndale notes that the only dance for underclassmen is homecoming, as prom is only for upperclassmen.  

This year, the student senate made trips to Souhegan and Hanover to see how their student senates are being run. This is leading to the senate revamp which will happen over the next few years. Sterndale says that the dance is a good step in the right direction for both the student government and the students hoping for more school dances.  

However, she says “student interest is not reflecting what we thought it would be,” but she’d be happy if 20 people showed up. In her time selling tickets she’s seen mostly couples buying tickets, so she assumes they will make up a large part of the attendance. 

Gavin Kenoyer (’27) wasn’t originally planning on going to the dance and in fact didn’t know it was happening when his girlfriend Maya Harwood (’28) asked him if they could go together. Both Kenoyer and Harwood have busy schedules, packed with work, sports and extracurriculars, so his enthusiastic yes was because the dance is the perfect opportunity for him to spend more time with his girlfriend. And while Nora Gargac (’28) is planning to attend without a date, her reasoning for going is similar. 

Many of her friends are going, and only half are going with dates. She says, “I’m super excited to dress up and hang out with my friends.” Her friends were enthusiastic and encouraging about her attending, despite her having swim practice before the dance.  

Kenoyer says his only worry is about the turnout of the event. “I’m just hoping it’s going to catch on,” he says. He mentions how few of his friends are attending, and how they have made comments about the dance like “oh, that’s still happening?” because they don’t know anybody who is planning on going. 

Kaleb Baker (’27) found out about the dance from a poster he saw floating around the school a week prior. He doesn’t generally like school dances and was put off by the Valentine’s Day theme, and when he found out that not many of his friends are going, the deal was sealed that he would not be attending. He wouldn’t have a date, he says, and the only one of his friends who is going is going with his girlfriend.  

Sterndale mentions the culture around school dances at ORHS as a huge reason people aren’t attending, saying, “I think people see the posters and think, ‘Oh, that’s not cool. School dances aren’t cool,’ but if you bring your friends and make the most out of it, it will be fun.” Tickets are $10 and have been sold in the cafeteria in the weeks prior to the dance and will also be sold at the door.

-Sadie Goldberg