Lorenzo Sandoval
The differences between MEChA's dances in the past and present.
MEChA has hosted an annual dance for 15 years. However this year they have been experiencing a decline in multiple areas. With less and less students attending dances, MEChA and ASB have been less successful with these kinds of fundraisers in comparison to events like the Food fair. While the original date for the Rodeo dance was April 4 it has now been postponed to May 2.
“The whole purpose of creating a dance is to build up a sense of community,” MEChA Advisor, Stephanie Cazares, said.
While fundraising is a crucial part of school dances relying on ticket and food sales, MEChA’s goal is to provide students with a fun experience at school and help them communicate with their peers comfortably. They hope to help build a community in school in which everyone feels comfortable to talk to each other and collaborate with each other.
“Hopefully more people go and are able to buy tickets so everyone is able to have fun and the school is able to earn the money that they didn’t get postponing,” Viridiana Balderas, 9, said.
MEChA has been promoting this dance with posters, flyers and Instagram posts. Previously students have said they feel like clubs and ASB need to promote the events more. Even though there has been more promotion for this event in comparison to previous elections and dances, some students said they didn’t know about the dance. The lack of knowledge negatively impacts attendance. Furthermore, tickets will no longer be sold at the door. Many people planned to buy tickets the same day. However, because of the new rule, MEChA fears this will continue to affect the students that want to attend.
“If you don’t show up to dances like these, you wont be able to participate in having fun with your friends. Dances like these help build a community by bringing people together,” Kenneth Martinez, 10, said.
When people do not attend dances, the community is impacted unfavorably. MEChA works to bring peers together to unite as a group, and dances are a big part of the process. Since students’ opinions on the dances have seemed to change, less dances will be happening in the future. Next school year MEChA will only be hosting one small dance.
“I feel low attendance has not impacted just MEChA, but everyone as a whole. We think possibly the students just aren’t interested in going to these dances anymore, unlike a couple years ago,” Cazares, said.