The YMCA Leaders Club Officers with the DJ during the Masquerade Dance. Photo submitted by Jimmy Ton.
The YMCA Leaders Club at Malden High hosted a masquerade themed dance in the Malden YMCA Gym on May 3rd, 2019.
The YMCA Leaders Club officers have been planning this dance for about a couple month to make sure that they had everything prepared ahead of time to run a successful event.
In previous years the dance was an annual event, however, in recent years the club did not host the event. The current officers have not decided whether or not this dance will become an annual event again, as the decision is primarily made by next year’s officers.
While planning this dance the officers did not intend for the event to be a fundraiser. Their only goal regarding funding was to make all the expenses put into hosting the event back. Any of the profit made from this dance went back into the club’s funding with no immediate intended use.
President Matthew Mijares explained that the toughest part of planning this dance has been “getting people to go,” and “trying to reserve the gym.” They found many people were reluctant to attend the event simply because they did not know if they would have friends going as well, but the day of the dance many students from different schools and grade levels attended. In his opinion, the easiest part was “creating a list of songs for the DJ and figuring out decorations.”
Secretary Jacky Luong explained that he and the rest of the officers saw this idea as an opportunity to host a “social event to reward [their] members for their excellent volunteer service.” The toughest part for Luong was actually executing it and buying materials, decorating the day of, promoting the event, and selling tickets. He expressed that “all the planning done […] felt a lot easier to get through,” than when it was time to prepare and make sure they had everything they needed in order for the night to run smoothly. Luong believed that the easiest part was the planning process, figuring out how to get the DJ, materials they needed to buy, when to host the dance, and other logistics.
Senior Tiffany Wong has been apart of the YMCA Leaders Club since her freshman year. When she initially heard that the officers wanted to bring the tradition of having annual dance back she believed that it would be fun to help bring that tradition back. She convinced many of her close friends to attend the dance with her and have fun. Wong expressed that she “really enjoyed being able to dance and come together with all the people [she enjoyed] hanging out with.” She further explained that the time she spent dancing and hanging out at the event was “a bonding experience that brought enjoyment to,” her and her friends.
Sophomore Kayla O’Brien stated that she attended the dance because some of her friends were going and said it would be “fun since [underclassmen do not] have any other dances.” O’Brien “enjoyed having a fun time with [her] friends and dancing.”
Freshman Minhthu Do express that she attended the event wanting “to experience middle school again.” She further explained that in middle school, her school hosted a couple of dances but added that high school does not really “offer dances except for prom but that is during senior year.” Do enjoy being “around [her] friends because they made [her] feel more comfortable,” and how “fun and enjoyable,” attendee made the dance. Freshman Maggie Yick was encouraged to attend by Do, but enjoyed “seeing people having a good time with their good friends.”
Freshman Sabrina Gutierrez attended the dance in hopes of meeting new people. She enjoyed “just having a good time with the great music and food.” Gutierrez also knew that many people were talking about this dance prior to the actual event and was curious of the turnout.
Freshman Kingson Chen “attended the dance because his friends encouraged him to go and he thought that it “would be a fun idea.” Chen was friends with many attendee and explained that he simply “enjoyed seeing all [his] friends in one place together and having fun.”
Despite their initial issue with convincing members to attend, the YMCA Leaders Club officers were able to promote through out Malden High and social media and had more people attend than anticipated.
