A tradition that has been carried down through generations of American highschoolers is a class ring. Originating all the way back in 1835, students can purchase a ring that says the year they graduated from high school, showing the unity among each class. The ring can represent what the student did in their high school years, showing pride in the achievements made in their final four years of schooling. At Masuk, sophomores got to purchase their class rings earlier in the year and on Friday night students received them at the annual Ring Dance.
Each grade has their own special dance to attend that is a staple of that year in high school, and for sophomores, it is the Ring Dance. With only a short five minute drive away from Masuk, over 100 students pooled into the Stone Barn at Whitney Farms to receive their rings, eat free food and enjoy the DJs music. For the price of 40 dollars, students were able to attend this exciting event from 7-10 pm. The sophomore class advisor, Jennifer Gampel, expanded on this and stated, “Students purchased tickets for the ring dance so their ticket covers a full dinner, dessert and DJ.”
The student council for the sophomore class worked hard to bring this dance together. Portia Lisanti, the sophomore class vice president, mentioned how they raised money for the dance, “we had a canned food drive and we used some of the money we had in our account from last year and last year we had the freshmen dance and that got us a lot of money.”
The Ring Dance, along with other school dances are in some ways fundraisers for other school events like prom. Gampel says, “any little bit that’s extra [money] would go into your class fund which then could be used for prom, or a senior gift.”
The Stone Barn was breathtaking, along with the students inside. Sophomores put on their best dresses and suits, having a fun night dancing to the music played by the DJ. Sophomore Lelia Giampe said she was motivated to buy a ticket “because the school doesn’t have dances very often and I knew I would regret it if I missed it.” Meanwhile sophomore Oliva Cottrell said, “I just really like dressing up and dancing and going out with my friends and I really enjoyed homecoming, so I thought I would enjoy Ring.”
Sophomores had a fun Friday night dancing the night away, whatever the motivation behind students buying their ticket was. The dance proved to be a fun time for everyone, leaving behind important memories of the short experience of high school.
Masuk Free Press 