The Answer - A blog about Education, Preparation, and Commitment.

YES Prep North Central Students Masquerade

February 17, 2010 by Julie Roach

As I set up my classroom last week for another day of tackling Shakespearean language with my 9^th graders, I saw something shiny glimmer out of the corner of my eye. Normally, this glimmer would have probably come from something mundane like a paperclip or staple, but that day it came from a sequin and loose glitter: remnants of the memorable event that took place in my classroom the night before. I couldn’t help but smile as I thought about the 20 plus high school students and teachers that gathered together to create and decorate colorful masquerade ball masks for the upcoming YES Prep North Central high school Spring dance. We had it all: hot glue, feathers, paint, sequins, gem stones, ribbon, you name it. It was quite an enjoyable (and messy!) experience! What a rare opportunity it was to relax and be creative with my students in preparation for a much anticipated YES Prep North Central tradition, the Spring dance.

During the week of February 1, 2010, YES Prep North Central Student Council, lead by Edith Rahimian and Andria Groover,  hosted a middle school and high school “Spring Masquerade Ball” dance for students and teachers to attend. Students were encouraged to wear decorative masks and “dress to impress” in accordance with the Valentine’s day “Famous Disney Couples” theme.  

Both middle school and high school teachers organized “mask making” parties during advisory and after school in which teachers and students worked together to create personalized masks for the event. Our students got REALLY involved in this project! It was such a blast to see their unique personalities emerge in their work. It was almost ironic that our students were creating masks to “hide their identity” while all the time providing insight about who they really are to their peers and teachers. YES Prep staff members also took some time to get creative and show their “Blue Orange” pride by making masks as well..

In addition to providing YES Prep North Central’s students with an enjoyable dance, Student Council also wanted to use the dance as an opportunity to support their most recent fundraiser that is collecting donations for the country of Haiti. Tickets to the dance were sold to students during lunches, and $1.00 from each ticket sale went towards the “Change for Haiti” fundraising efforts. Over 300 students purchased tickets to the dance, and Student Council was able to raise a significant amount of money for their worthy cause. 

Julie Roach teaches ninth grade English literature at YES Prep North Central.  Julie is a 2009 graduate of Texas A&M University where she studied business. 

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