Flashing lights, balloons, two DJs and rap music. At first glance this is what Keean Lard saw walking into the Welcome Back Aloha dance on Aug. 22. However, the finished product came with some difficulties and surprises.

“By having a back-to-school dance we wanted to give the new students and freshmen a taste of what Whitney is like,” dance commissioner Maddie Lewis said.

As commissioner, Lewis helped plan and set up the dance, along with the ASB dance committee and activities director Mr. Travis Mougeotte.

“Everybody looked like they were having a good time, so I thought it went really well,” Mougeotte said.

Part of the dance experience included decorations of fish and seahorses, a DJ from Destiny Church outside as well as a DJ inside, and even live fish in vases on the tables near the entrances to the main dance floor. The leadership team had asked the DJs from Destiny Church to come back after their success at the Sadie’s dance last spring.

“We are the youth group from Destiny Church called Fearless Nation, and we’re just here so we can portray a fun environment outside, so that whenever students come from inside to outside they still have fun stuff to do,” member of the Fearless Nation Zach Seals said.

The finished product came with some difficulties and surprises. The process to put on the “Welcome Back” luau was more complicated on the inside than most dances.

“This dance, we’ve had a lot of struggles. Since the AC unit went out we had to think about moving outside, and then we wired the gym on the wrong side, and we had to do a lot of things to make sure the dance was a success. A lot of struggle, a lot of tears, actually,” Lewis said.

However, everything became easier when the AC units were fixed after being worked on just after the rally. The dance could then be refocused to the small gym where there was enough room for all of the students.

Students voiced their approval of the event.

Lard said, “This is a great kickoff to the school year. I’ve gotten a really positive vibe from the rally and the dance, and I’m really glad I came.”

by RACHEL MARQUARDT