With Homecoming in October and Prom in April, that leaves a significant gap between large and engaging school events. Addison Wurzbacherl, Chloe McArtor, and Liana Rodriguez decided to follow in the footsteps of surrounding schools and host a Sadie Hawkins semi-formal in late January to fill that gap.

Wurzbacherl explains that the Sadies dance is part of their yearly Distributive Education Clubs of America (better known as DECA) project. DECA is a club that allows students to better grasp business concepts and how to realistically implement them in life outside of high school.

This year, these three individuals decided to raise money for the March of Dimes through the Sadies dance. The March of Dimes is a non-profit organization with a mission to help premature babies and their moms. With all three of them being in their senior year, they hoped to plan a project that would be a bit more challenging and rewarding than previous years.

“We felt that was just like a really good way to bring the school together, [and build] a good school community, raising money for a good cause,” McArtor mentions.

The Sadie Hawkins semi-formal is a winter themed dance with a similar attire to homecoming, only more casual. However, dissimilar to Homecoming, outside guests are not permitted to attend. The Sadies dance is solely a Fossil Ridge event.

Wurzbacherl, McArtor, and Rodriguez got National Art Honors Society (NAHS) on board to work with them and create some appealing posters as advertising for the dance. In addition to the posters, slides on the hallway TVs and other flyers help to spread the word. Yet the best way to inform students about the Sadies dance is through morning announcements, and the wildfire known as word of mouth.

Originally, the Sadies team planned on a ‘Sadies Sweethearts’ Valentine’s Day dance, but could not schedule a time in February. Hence the dance taking place on Saturday, January 28.

Wurzbacherl shares their original planning process, “We couldn’t get a day in February that’s like [close to], Valentine’s Day, so it’s now just kind of a winter formal, there’s not really a theme.”