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Schools Share Tips For Dances On A Shoestring

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Tracy Ferrara, left, expected to work until the wee hours of the morning and most of Friday with her daughter, Stephanie, on the ladder transforming the hallways and cafeteria at Brandon High. This is the largest event of the year for these kids, Ferrara said. They have been working on it since June, working on the weekends and after school.

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By MARILYN BROWN

mbrown@tampatrib.com

Published: November 6, 2008

TAMPA - Some high school students think it's great fun to spend months building decorations and then transforming their schools into a Paris night or a jungle for the homecoming dance.

Others, not so much.

That was the bottom line when student government leaders from most of Hillsborough's 25 high schools met Thursday to talk about considering less-expensive venues for dances.

Schools have been spending tens of thousands of dollars to rent ballrooms and decorations for homecoming, recouping costs with tickets of up to $65 each.

In contrast, Brandon – where Thursday's meeting was held – has produced its own dance for decades. Brandon student government members briefed students from other schools on how they transformed several areas of their main building into themes such as "The Wizard of Oz" or Cirque du Soleil. It takes a year of planning and work, but it also hones students' planning and organization skills and reduces ticket prices to $15 each.

"You plan ahead," Haley Quinzi, a senior at Durant High told Desiree McCutchen, a senior at Brandon. "We kind of wait until the last minute."

Durant has been talking about moving the homecoming dance to the school to save money, Quinzi said. The school rents a venue, then students decorate and clean up. This year they rented a large room at Hillsborough Community College.

The last-minute preparation concluded preparing a 1,600-balloon drop, she said.

Plant City High is switching this year from decorating the school to renting space at Hillsborough Community College.

"We thought it would be easier, but it wasn't," said Stacey Heckerman, vice president of student government at Plant City. "When we were at the school, we already knew the measurements."

Students found the rented room larger and wider. The Empire State Building centerpiece could look lonely without adding even more "New York Minute" decorations to the cardboard Brooklyn Bridge and giant apple before the Nov. 15 dance.

But, Heckerman said, "We don't always have access" to the building like they did at their school.
"We did this to be simpler," she said. "It's so much easier at your school. …We're not as prepared. There's a lot more panic."

Bloomingdale High, like Brandon, has a tradition of planning and producing the whole event in-house.

"It's a lot more work, but it's so rewarding to have it at your school," said Britt Stromquist, senior class president at Bloomingdale. This year's "Welcome to the Jungle" theme drew 400 more students than last year, and 'we made more money than we ever had," said Andrew Fuentes. Tickets are still $15 when purchased early.

Some students said they simply don't want all the work, and others said they don't have the room.

Alonso High – where tickets were $65 – has an open, outside courtyard and not enough room in its cafeteria, students said, so they must go outside. Some schools hire decorators, even to decorate their own school.

Blake High will party Saturday at the downtown Hyatt with a Night on the Nile theme, complete with a pyramid cake and "unlimited food and drinks." Decorations are part of the package.

For those looking to do-it-yourself, Brandon will continue to offer tips - like these on drinks from McCutchen:

*Nix slushes: "Too sticky. One year we had them and everyone's feet stuck to the floor."

*Don't allow too much access to drinks. "We hid them where just parents could get to them so no one could spike 'em."

Reporter Marilyn Brown can be reached at (813) 259-8069.

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