Sadie Hawkins is a very popular dance that is hosted in high schools all over the country. It is a very non-traditional dance compared to Homecoming or Prom. Instead of the traditional format where the guys ask the girls, it switches. For the Sadie Hawkins dance, this is where the girls have a chance to ask the boys. This changes the regular societal views of how girls should act. Doing this can give girls the confidence to express themselves more openly. Whether or not couples will even follow the “rules” of the Sadie Hawkins dance or make their own rules for modern and inclusive times, a new dance is a fun addition regardless.
Coming in March of 2025, the high school will be hosting a Sadie Hawkins dance again for the first time in years. This will allow students of all four grades to dress up and hang out with friends at a school dance besides Homecoming. Even though the only people who can attend are the district’s students, it is going to be a great refresher for everyone who attends and can relieve stress during the school year. For many years, the only dances that the high school hosted were Homecoming, which allows all four grades to attend, and Prom, which only allows juniors and seniors to go, unless an upperclassman invites an underclassman. This brought some sadness to the freshman this year because of how exciting Homecoming was, so the student senate decided to do something about it. This meant hosting another dance during the year that allowed all of the classes to attend. This is how the idea of a Sadie Hawkins dance came around. Gracie Uhl, sophomore, has been on the student senate for two years now and is helping plan the dance.
For the longest time, the high school wasn’t able to have as many dances as it did in the past. According to Mr. Semler, the high school used to host around seven different dances throughout the year, but the amount became less and less because of safety reasons. But once it was brought to his attention that students wanted to have more dances, he was all in. “We have so many really really good kids that do things the right way and that we had no reason not to,” said Semler. But this might not be the only new dance coming. There could be a future for the high school to start having more dances again. It might not be seven like there used to be, but more like four.
The dance’s history is also a very important thing. Back in 1937, a man named Al Capp created a cartoon strip featuring a character named Sadie Hawkins. According to Seventeen Magazine, there was a comic strip called Li’l Abner, which was set in a fictional town called Dogpatch. In Dogpatch, there was a day every November called Sadie Hawkins Day. This date was named after the homely daughter of one of Dogpatch’s earliest settlers, and she failed to catch a husband. So on this day, Sadie’s father collected all of the eligible bachelors of Dogpatch and all the single women. Then he let all of the women chase around the men. If a man was caught by one of the women, they had to get married. This was a very controversial thing that happened, but something great came out of it.
The Sadie Hawkins dance is a tradition that the high school hopes to adapt and carry on for years to come. It is expected to mainly be attended by freshman and sophomores, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t open to all of the grades. Because of when the dance is set to happen, many upperclassmen will rather look forward to Prom more. Regardless, the dance is sure to be a big hit and help with stress and confidence during the school year.
