Both of the dances that are open to all four grades are over for the year, and students have put away their dancing shoes. Or so they thought. Students of AHS missed the reversed role dance, TWIRP, so AHSFuel members brought the idea to bring it back to one of their meetings. The dance will take place on Thurs, March 2 during conference week.

The club weighed the pros and cons of bringing back TWIRP, and came up with a lot of both. Students really wanted to have the dance back because they thought it was fun. Once they decided they wanted to work to bring it back, it took a couple weeks to figure out the details such as funding options, if AHSFuel can pay for everything, what the actual cost will be and if students would actually go. “The conversation of should we even have TWIRP week if we don’t have a dance came up,” AHSFuel director Daniel Vargason said.

AHS Fuel brought the idea to principal Heather McKay and discussed it with her, then with McKay and assistant principal Matt Alexander. They then came to the agreement that it was something they could bring back, with some changes being made to it. TWIRP is the lowest attended dance, and “dances in general are kind of dwindling compared to what they used to be,” Vargason said.

AHSFuel members are hoping to come up with ways to attract more people to the dance. Vargason said, “It seems like sophomores and juniors attend better than freshmen and seniors, so we’re trying to find a way to get everybody there.” If attendance numbers are higher this year than past years, TWIRP will be added back onto the school calendar. McKay will still require money to be raised for the dance.

When AHSFuel called in McKay, she was “pretty well squared on ‘I’ll listen, but my answer isn’t going to change.’” She still had the same mindset when Vargason spoke to her about it again on behalf of Fuel; she was at the point where “if you can guarantee that you can raise this much money by this time, we will have it.” She left the deadline up to AHSFuel, but said, “if the money is not raised, it’s not happening.”

McKay also said that nothing will come of out general funds to help pay for any part of the dance. She was pretty well set on not having the dance, but “this year has been so positive, there was nothing negative that said why not,” McKay said.

The club has been trying to arrange a bowling tournament the day of the dance, and  perhaps have a bag toss and snacks at the dance. They’re “trying to come up with a unique experience,” Vargason said. If the bowling alley can be open for the TWIRP dance, then Vargason said, “that is the big thing that they want to get accomplished.” The club strives to get that plan confirmed or pulled off by next week so they can come up with an alternative, if needed.

TWIRP week will still include its usual activities, such as Iron Man volleyball. Student Council has been looking at doing activities the week prior to TWIRP, as well as the three days leading up to TWIRP, due to it happening during a short week, but “nothing is concrete,” said McKay.

AHSFuel plans to pay for TWIRP from ticket sales and pre-sales, and use money already made from previous fundraisers. The club hopes to avoid doing any more fundraisers for a year or two. The t-shirt fundraiser from last year made them “quite a bit,” Vargason said. 

Ticket cost has not been determined yet, but it’s estimated that it will cost $5-6 per person. The cost of tickets depends on whatever type of music they decide on (dj or band). They’re not aiming to make a profit on the dance, and hope to get as close to $0 as possible. They don’t want to go negative or positive on the money factor.

The school policy requires school employees to chaperone the dance, which will be another ticket cost factor. Employees are allowed to donate their time and Vargason said, “but what teacher is going to donate their Thursday night over a break?” Vargason is donating his time to chaperone, but the policy requires a minimum of six employees.

The club must also pay police officers for attending, and the janitors for bathroom and floor cleanup and for putting away the tables.

Not having TWIRP last year saved money for the school, but “not as much as we hoped it would,” said McKay. The total was under $500, so it was still a cost saver when trying to cut so much.

Many freshmen didn’t even know what TWIRP was until they heard about the rumors. Juniors and seniors “weren’t overly excited, but weren’t like ‘oh great, another dance,’ and seemed open to it,” Vargason said. Students were fairly neutral with the decision to bring back TWIRP. So polish up your dancing shoes, and get ready to have a great break.