The Booze Buster*

As I mentioned yesterday, last night I chaperoned my first high school dance. It was… magical. (Magical is my word for when there are no words. It just seems appropriate. haha)

A friend of mine is actually at the same school as I am for placement, although she is in the high school division and I am working in intermediate. She was asked to chaperone the dance and I volunteered to as well. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect… when I was in high school in northern Ontario many moons ago, everyone went to dances. There wasn’t much else to do in the community, (not to mention it was an opportunity to go to other schools and stalk hot boys), so, for the most part, dances were well attended. When we moved south, no one went to dances at the high school I attended. It was sad… as I loved going.

So last night was my first time seeing a dance from a teacher’s perspective. As we were not assigned specific duties, we were able to float around and get a feel for all the responsibilities of running a dance smoothly and safely… AND AND AND I got to be a big bad teacher. :)

When we first arrived we were asked to stand near the entrance to the gym and prevent students from entering if they had any food, drinks or spiked heels. (boring)

The came the fun part. My VP (who loves me) strolled over and asked if I’d like a turn standing at the doors checking bags and coats. (Heck yes!) So, I put on my best “I am a serious teacher face” (which I’m sure was more of a “I’m gonna bust some kiiiiiiids” face) and got to work hunting for booze. The first few bags and coats were boring… but SO many kids brought backpacks to the dance! Most of them had almost nothing in them–maybe a book, some pencils, etc. Why do you bring a backpack to a dance?!?!? (I’m boggled.)

So as I’m standing there chatting with another lovely teacher I had just met, a girl walked over and I asked to see her coat and bag. Without any hesitation, she handed me her things. (I REALLY wish I had watched her face more closely at this point) I patted her coat down–nothing. I opened up her backpack, and took a quick look, and I found… binders, pens, and pj pants. (disappointing) I was just about to zip it up when I thought, “Hey, what the heck. Let’s give the pants a squeeze”. I reached in, poked at the pants and felt something cold. Without letting my face give anything away (she couldn’t see what I was looking at) I unwrapped a bottle of Smirnoff that had been hidden in the pants. I gave her my best “You are an idiot” face and signaled for another teacher and the VP to come over. All of a sudden it was not her backpack–she had borrowed it from a friend without looking at the contents.

riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

She got a lengthy lecture from the VP, and I suddenly felt like super cop–saving high school dances one backpack at a time. (*insert theme song here*) I’m pretty sure I had the only bust of the evening, which is a really good thing–no puking, YAY!

After all my front table excitement we moved into the gym to watch the dance. It was an interesting set-up–they had a DJ and a live band made up of kids that had graduated from the school a year or so ago. They switched back and forth every 4 songs. I’ll admit, I was a little leery about the band, but other than being too loud they were so good!! They played songs from MY high school dance days!!!!!!!! They did covers of Journey, AC/DC, and best of all, BACKSTREET BOYS!! (♥) It SO made me want to go out dancing… I haven’t been in so long!

And then there was the slow dancing… I am pleased to report that high school boys still try and put their hands on girls’ bums while dancing. Nothing has changed. haha

All in all, it was a great night. We got to know a few more staff members that will hopefully make the staff room a little more bearable. It also makes us look like we are super teacher candidates. Which we are. Obviously. Only now it is more obvious. Awesome.

The whole thing made me so nostalgic for my high school days… that feeling of being SO excited to get dressed up and find out if the boy you like will be there… and then waiting to see who he asks to dance and whether or not he’ll ask you. The feeling of hearing your favourite song come on and dancing like crazy with your girlfriends on the middle of the dance floor. I miss it. (not high school, just the dances. haha)

I thought I’d leave you with a clip from one of my all-time favourite movies, Can’t Buy Me Love. While there was no African Anteater Rituals performed last night, some of the dancing was equally bad. haha!! (and yes, that is a very young McDreamy in the clip!)

Shop Girl*