Midwood Debuts Fall Dance with Help of VE Class and Math Department

The 200 available tickets to the dance (dictated by gym capacity) all sold out. *Photo: Angela Zou*

By ANGELA ZOU, YAN CHEN, OLUWAJEMBOLA ORIOKE, and DANIEL GHOPRIAL

The door swung open, and as feet stepped into the room, the pulse of music hit like a tidal wave. The loud, pumping beats flooded the air, vibrating through the floor and gripping every heart and stomach in the crowd.

Each note felt alive, pulling the crowd in sync with the music. It wasn’t just a dance—it was an experience. This was Midwood’s new Fall Dance on November 4 in the C-Gym.

The event came about as a collaboration between the Virtual Enterprise (VE) class and the Math Department. Mr. Jakub Karpieszuk, Midwood’s VE coordinator said, “Ms. [Janet] Gillespie actually came up with the idea. She originally wanted to do a Halloween movie night. However, the junior class was doing that already, so it morphed into a dance.”

Senior Sophie English, CFO of a fitness and lifestyle company in VE, said, “The point is to go from the ground up and create a thriving business. We need a lot of money – real money. The Fall Dance was one of our initiatives to raise our total.”

Around the windows there were leaves and ribbons, in tune with the autumn atmosphere. Mood lighting painted the floor, and brick backgrounds were in place for photos.

“We maxed out the gym space to two hundred, and we did sell out [the tickets],” said Mrs. Patricia Lazo, the Math Department’s Assistant Principal. “So I’m hoping next year we'll be able to sell more than two hundred.”

Students moved with the music in the center of the gym in the company of their friends while others posed in the photo booth. For those who preferred not to dance, an alternative option was available: near the DJ, groups of students were playing balloon volleyball.

“I think the decorations and atmosphere are nice,” said senior Briana Woods. “I’m surprised that we have school dances now.”

Preparation on the day of the event was an all-hands-on-deck effort. “I’m very grateful for all the help and support from both of my VE teams and also all the collaborations we have with different classes,” Mr. Karpieszuk said. “The robotics team came out to help us. We worked the full day from second period to the event to get everything done on time. Everyone was excited, especially when the dance started. We were ready to go, and I think the overall energy and the vibe in the room was positive.”

“Dude, getting those paper decorations up was so tedious, I'm just glad we finished in time,” said Alexander Ke ‘25, a member of the prep crew.

“This is one of those things where everyone is reluctant to come until they actually do and enjoy it,” said dean Jason Richardson. “I wish we had events like these when I was in high school.”

Though many students had positive experiences, there were also gripes about the DJ, the loudness of the music, a lack of side activities, and the capacity limits of the gym.

Despite the imperfections, many praised the Fall Dance as a memorable event and hopefully the start of a new tradition to add to Midwood’s expansive community event calendar.