Students were greeted by music blasting from the speakers in the quad on Thursday, Oct. 16, following the second-period Great Shakeout earthquake drill.
The mystery event was run by the Associated Student Body [ASB], and ASB adviser David Fenstermaker made announcements with the mic while social science teacher Marcus Reveles and athletic director Paul Jones prepared for the DJ battle.
“Make sure to come out to the quad for a surprise event during break,” said Fenstermaker, who was announcing the event to his first-period International Baccalaureate History of the Americas class. “You might not want to miss it.”
Students were encouraged to come out and dance once the music started playing, and based on the music they preferred, they went to the side of the DJ playing it.
Senior Pierrce Sandle, who is a part of the ASB pep committee, who was one of the first to join the dance, said he saw a large number of students in the quad while he was walking back from the break.
“Obviously, I felt a little nervous being one of the first ones out there,” Sandle said. “I was dancing in front of the whole school, not knowing if people were going to come and join, but it was fun once everybody started going.”
Some of the DJ song battles featured themes such as “TikTok” or “throwback” until it got to the freestyle round.
The staff members played music such as “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO, “FE!N” by Travis Scott and “Gangnam Style” by PSY.
Senior Laurel Henderson said she wasn’t going to join the dance, but saw her friends and heard music she liked and had to join in.
“My favorite dance was ‘Gangnam Style,'” Henderson said. “I hope the school does more events like this because it really made my day and brought excitement to the quad.”
At the start of the event, ASB students helped to build a crowd by encouraging students to join, and grade levels competed with each other in a dance-off.
The event started with around eight students, but by the end of the break, staff and students alike had crowded around to join the dance.
ASB executive treasurer senior Aaron Green said he thinks the event went well and was a nice stress reliever for students.
“It allowed a lot of people who might not usually do that type of thing to join in and have fun,” Green said.