Snowballs

Allow, say, two hundred and forty mixed teenagers between the ages of 15 and 18 to spend three or so hours of an evening after school, Friday for example, in a large room decorated with imagination, flair and partying spirit by the kids themselves, with up to the minute, loudness to the max music mixed by a cool teenage deejay and you have a recipe for chaos. Right? Right! But not all recipes work out – think soufflé, for example.

This was the SnowBall ( no, I am not back on that topic again – ever probably) – I am referring to the Winter Ball organised by the student council reps of G10 in particular and helped by some very effective senior students, that started the new year. At least half a dozen teachers gave up their evenings to proctor the event. I was there, admittedly only to 23.55 - some adults were helping to clean up for another ¾ of an hour – and had a privileged glimpse at kids really creating, enjoying and then dismantling an event that they had ownership of at all stages. They turned the, let’s admit it, very dreary dining hall into a breathtakingly beautiful and romantic club with a stage and dry ice, tables dressed in white and strings of soft lights draped across edges. They dressed up themselves to kill and arrived in style (I’m glad the snow white and immensely long stretch limo did not try to negotiate the exit drive of the car park, though). The boys wore tailored shirts hanging outside, of course, their immaculate suits. They behaved impeccably, enjoyed themselves a great deal (they said) and then, when it was over and the last slow dance had dwindled away into the chill night air, left with dignity.

Just as well the Dean was there? Well, in a strange sense, yes, because I love to see our/your kids getting it so right. This should be an annual event – it brings a whole new positive meaning to SnowBall… Posted by The Dean's Blog at 2:15 AM 0 comments Thursday, December 20, 2007