By Staff Writer, Ena Jones
The Beachwood High School Kick Off dance was held in the Atrium on September 11th beginning at 7:30. Around 8:00 the coat-check room was still almost empty when a group of five students walked in, questioning English teacher Casey Matthews about the single glaring light that lit up half the dance floor, and the music that could barely be heard above all the talking and screaming. After being assured by Matthews that administrators were doing all they could, the students reluctantly returned to the atrium.
As the night progressed, the music got louder, but the light did not go away. Students whispered, “I bet they’re just keeping it on so we won’t want to dance.” But after a while, people began to enjoy themselves.
Throughout the evening, issues arose with the music. Certain songs skipped every few beats, making them awkward to dance to and causing people to shout, “This is so annoying!”
Those who decided not to let the little thing get to them had a blast and danced all night with their friends, leaving only for a few water breaks.
Most students didn’t know the reason behind the difficulties at the dance that night. In the week prior to Kick Off there was lots of work done in the Atrium. This work required things to be wired to four different switches. Most of the lights in the Atrium were wired to the same switch. One light, the problem light, was wired to a different switch.
If that switch were turned off, then all the power in the Atrium would have been shut off. With no power comes no music, and what’s a dance with no music? If the light had been turned off, it would have been a bunch of teenagers hanging out in a dark room.
As for the music skipping issues, the playlist made for the dance had some corrupt music files and the song count was a little short. Otherwise, there was a good music selection and people seemed to enjoy the songs.
Toward the end of the dance, Miley Cryrus’s new song “Party in the USA” began playing and was answered with excited screams from all over the dance floor, at least from the girls. The majority of the guys, on the other hand, stood there giving each other confused looks.
The night ended with a bang as well. At about 10:15 coaches began to show up unannounced, telling their players to go home and rest for their games the next day. Once all the athletes emptied out, the rest of the students began to follow, bringing the hectic night to a close.
