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Health & Fitness

Fall Ball is a success for the Freshmen Mentoring program

Last Friday, the Freshmen Mentoring program held a Fall Ball dance at the high school to raise money for their program.

by Jackie Kelley

Last Friday, the Freshmen Mentoring program held a Fall Ball dance at the high school to raise money for their program.  The Freshmen Mentoring program welcomes freshmen to the high school by having seniors and juniors meet with them once a month to catch up on how their school year is going. This program is great because it offers the freshmen a support system and gives them the opportunity to meet some upperclassmen in the school. 

The dance was open to all grades and required black, orange, or white attire to show school spirit. The dance was held in hopes of attracting freshmen to become involved in school events as well as to raise money to take them on a field trip later in the year.  Although Fall Ball didn’t have as many attendees as school dances in the past, everyone agreed that it was a great time, including senior and board member of the Freshmen Mentoring program, Mike Paladino. 

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“Personally, I thought Fall Ball was pretty fun, especially since people really danced.  It was a great way to bring people together from all classes, especially for the freshmen and while I wished more could have gone, I think all those who did go enjoyed themselves and hopefully felt welcomed into the school.  A nice, low-key dance was a perfect way to start off the year and show off some black and orange,” said Paladino. 

Sophomore Andrew Lichoulas agreed and felt that for the first dance of the year, it was certainly a success. 

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“I did enjoy Fall Ball because even though there weren’t a ton of people there, I still had fun.  I thought of it as a practice or warm-up dance to refresh my dancing skills for homecoming,” said Lichoulas. 

Senior mentor Ryan Glavin also appreciated the opportunity for everyone to show off their dance moves that night and truly enjoyed the friendly atmosphere.

“I loved it.  I think it was great that we could have some of the younger kids feel comfortable enough to strut their stuff and get jiggy with it.  It’s really important that we have fun and show the school the importance of our program and also having an extra dance was awesome.  Even though not a whole lot of kids went, I feel that it was perfect for the younger and more timid kids to feel confident and comfortable.  No one was there to judge, just to have fun,” said Glavin.

Senior and board member of the Freshmen Mentoring program Danysha Maitre was happy that the dance was able to bring people closer together and welcome the freshmen in a fun and exciting way. 

“I felt that it was a really great way to get everyone in the program together in a way that wasn’t so formal like the classroom.  It was a great way to get the word out about the program and show that we can have fun too.  I really hope we raised a lot of money because it would be great to have some trips and become even closer,” said Maitre. 

The upperclassmen seem to be proud of the dance, but what about the freshmen?  Did they enjoy themselves like the Mentoring program was hoping?  Freshman Skyla Insogna shared her thoughts on her first high school dance. 

“I had a lot of fun, it turned out to be a great night.  What I liked most about it was that I went with a couple friends from volleyball and we just danced until we couldn’t dance anymore.  I met new people and the music got everyone pumped up,” said Insogna. 

Insogna wasn’t the only one that praised Fall Ball, though.  Freshmen Claubert Mallebranche and Rachel Scribner had some nice things to say about the dance too. 

“I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed myself.  Everyone had a great time.  The music and decorations were great,” said Mallebranche. 


“It was so much fun just being with your friends and enjoying yourself and I’m looking forward to other dances this year,” said Scribner. 

Fall Ball was clearly a success not only because everyone had a great time, but also because the freshmen felt welcome and comfortable among the upperclassmen. It seems like most everyone will be counting down the days until they can show off their moves once again at Homecoming in November. 

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