On Friday, August 19th, 2017 Ripon High held their annual back to school dance. The dance was held in Ripon High’s multi-use building from 8-11 p.m. Students handed in their tickets in exchange for a wristband and were able to enter the dance. This dance is held to get everyone excited and spirited for the new school year.

The theme was neon, and the entire room was glowing neon pink, blue, green, yellow, and orange. The DJ was hired from Los Angeles and everyone was excited. It was the seniors’ last back to school dance and the freshmans’ first high school dance. 630 students attended the dance.

“I was excited for my first high school dance, and it was fun getting ready with all of my friends,” freshman Alexandra Fereria said.

Many freshmen were excited to experience their first dance, and many people were dressed up.

“I tried making the best of my last high school dance, but the choice of music wasn’t great which made it challenging,” senior Jianna Velez said. “Although we tried making fun of it, there was just too many people in such a small space.”

With 630 people huddled in one group, the dance was definitely sweaty. Many students also mentioned how it made it harder to dance when you were constantly being pushed around.

“We did reach our goal of over 600 people to attend the dance, which is totally awesome and it was really great to see so much spirit and participation from well over half of the student body.” junior Mia Benzinger and ASB Vice President said. “I do think that we could have done better in making sure to tell everyone they can request songs, so that there wasn’t so many people being upset about the music choices. Other than that, we are just going to try and keep the hype up for our brightest dance of the year for next year.”