By ANDREW COGLIANO
The class of 2016 redefined the term “school dance” by introducing their epic Friday Night Rave on October 25, 2013 in Cafe B of Malden High School. The dance raised a considerable amount of money for the sophomore class, which came from not only ticket sales, but a concession stand that sold cupcakes and even featured a chocolate fountain and pizza. As for decorations, the cafeteria was turned into a full out dance hall, complete with a fog machine and a photo booth illuminated by a black light.
Music is a key part of every rave, and the class officers spent weeks in advance preparing a playlist. The songs varied in genre from jumpstyle techno to trap, and included artists like Calvin Harris and Oscar Wylde, the famed trap DJ. In the middle of the dance, Damandeep Singh, in charge of music, began taking requests from the participants, which resulted in dubstep remixes and even the cha-cha slide. Even when minor technical difficulties surfaced, the class worked together to keep the music playing nonstop and the crowd subdued.
Once the dance began, there was a very peculiar incident regarding the fog machine. The fire alarms were set off and the fire department had to be called, which meant evacuation in the cafeteria for a few moments. Thankfully, nobody was injured and, surprisingly, the participants were even more excited to resume the rave. Sophomore Kaitlyn Gibson, a participant at the dance even requested the song “Fire Burning” by Sean Kingston, with much approval.
All the class officers were very pleased with the turnout of their first major event. President Ricky Cordero confessed that “the task seemed more daunting than any we had come across before.” This is very true, considering that the rave was almost cancelled due to lack of participants, and more troubles arose involving funding. In the end, the officers decided to proceed, realizing that they had invested too much time and money to give up now. The large payoff clearly shows the benefits of their perseverance. President Joylyn Norris also believes that the rave “was a success [because] it got all of us working as a team for one of our first major events.”
In the end, the class of 2016 ended up raising a total of nearly 400 dollars. According to participant sophomore Sarah Bendell, the rave was “a great way for [the] class to raise money for prom.” Gibson agrees that “it was a great time and…really nice that our first event was a success.” By the time the rave ended at 9:30pm, everyone, both officers and ravers, were very satisfied with the experience. MHS looks forward to the next Friday Night Rave; a night for music, dancing, and good vibes.
