Month: September 2019

September 27, 2019

Decorations make or break your high school dance! If you have a really creative and awesome theme, you need to make sure the decorations are at that same level. I’m not saying go out and spend a ridiculous amount of money on decorations, but make sure the decorations you purchase actually represent the theme well. Sometimes it’s hard to find decorations for each of your school’s themes, so My School Dance  is here to include some top options:

Anderson’s

No matter what your theme is, you will be able to find decorations that go with it on Anderson’s. They have hundreds of theme options and even decorations that you can use for other themes they might not have. This is a perfect place for you to get all of your decor and more straight from your laptop.

Amazon

With Amazon exploding in popularity, you’re bound to find decor for your school’s dances. If you have Amazon Prime, you’ll even be able to save and get deals like free shipping on your purchase. Just type in the type of decorations you’re looking for and start ordering.

Oriental Trading

Oriental Trading allows you to order in bulk different decorations or giveaways. For example, you can get a dozen of shiny stars or light-up candles for one price. If you have a big venue, this could be beneficial in saving money in the long run.

Pinterest

If you tend to be extremely crafty and love DIY tasks, then Pinterest is your go-to. Get ideas from there and head to your local craft store for supplies. Get a team of creative people and create your own decorations.

Stumps Party

Stumps is another great website to look into for ordering decorations. They divide their site into themes and you can choose the type of decorations you want by each theme. They also offer decorations for events other than dances such as Sporting Events, Back to School Night, or Graduation.

All five of these companies are great resources for your school to look into when purchasing your decorations for your events. Be sure to look for discount codes and offers! I advise checking out all of these options and maybe purchasing some things from one and some from another. This way you can make sure you get everything you visioned for your theme.

Now that your decorations are done, you can start the fun part of actually decorating your venue. Be sure to reach out to My School Dance to assist with the managing process for your school’s event. By utilizing My School Dance’s platform, you’ll have saved up so much time that you can put toward the decorating process!

Want more school dance tips? Read these blog posts next: 10 Spirit Week Ideas For All Ages, How To Spice Up Homecoming Week, and 5 Ways To Increase Student Attendance At Homecoming!

Don’t forget to give us a like and follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Contact:

Stephanie Hamilton

833-336-8656

September 20, 2019

“I would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg

On a flight to San Francisco, I watched “On the Basis of Sex”, the movie on the early life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. As we are approaching the 100^th anniversary of women’s rights to vote and just passed the 55^th anniversary of the passing of the Civil Rights Act banning employment discrimination on the basis of sex, it is important to reflect on the progression of women in business.

As a woman, I never take for granted the time I live and the opportunities that I have to make an impact on a world that 100 years ago saw us as property. Being a woman in business is most definitely not without its challenges, but it is also incredibly rewarding. Women in business are just disguised superheroes. As a working mom, I am tasked with 500 things to do each day, but as a woman, I am really good at prioritizing, multitasking, and making lots of lists. Despite having to do all the things, I am honored to be an example to other women pursuing business success. I do what I do to show my daughter that if business is what she wants to pursue, she is fully capable and 100% entitled to achieve success.

For the women out there reading this, particularly working moms, I wanted to share a few lessons I’ve learned to thrive in the workplace.

Lesson 1: You are fully capable of doing ANYTHING that you set your mind to within reason.

Why did I say within reason? Well, because honestly, we aren’t good at everything, no matter how hard we try. I will never be a professional basketball player, partially because I don’t like basketball, but also because I’m 5’5” and entirely uncoordinated. That is not to say I can’t try! But with limited time and resources, it is important to play to your strengths, especially as a woman, when our plate is fuller than most. Within your own desire zone, you can do anything with a little hard work and maybe additional training. To illustrate this, I will tell a story of my own experience. I love beautiful slide decks, but the creative and visual side of my brain is not my strongest. I didn’t want what I knew was just a lack of knowledge to hold me back, so I researched and studied other people’s decks. Eventually, over time, I improved my own skills building presentations, and continue to improve today. Just because I am not the most creative, doesn’t mean that is a skill I cannot learn. As Marie Forleo says, “everything is figureoutable”, within reason.

Lesson 2: The hours will be long, but the rewards will be great

It is an unfortunate fact of life, but you have to put in the hours to see success. You will put in more hours both inside and outside the office to balance the demands of home-life and work-life, and that is okay. Doctor’s appointments, home repairs, and parent-teacher conferences will come up that might require you to wake up an hour early, work after your kids go to bed, or work during naps. Your flexibility and ability to multitask will be your greatest asset. You can create infinite success for yourself in the extra effort you put in outside of working hours, so keep up the hustle!

Lesson 3: Don’t sacrifice yourself.

In contrast to the second lesson, I want to warn you not to get trapped in the rat race and consumed with trying to prove yourself. Work the extra hours, but also take the time to disconnect and be with your family at night and on weekends. Take a vacation, take a leave, and don’t lose yourself on your climb to the top. When you are at the end of your life, you will not be thinking about how much success you obtained, but how worthwhile what you accomplished was, and the impact that you made on your family, friends, and colleagues.

Lesson 4: You have unique gifts that no one else has, let them shine

The qualities you bring to the working world are unique; DO NOT discredit them. Changing who you are to match what you perceive is not doing your gifts justice. As I mentioned, you are capable of doing so many things and doing them well. You think creatively, you lean into intuition, you take risks, and you problem solve. You also are deeply compassionate and understanding which serves your employees, customers, and community. Being a woman is business is no longer seen as a stigma, YOU ARE A SUPERWOMAN, so let your cape fly!

September 13, 2019

The best way to increase excitement and student involvement is by having spirit weeks! Spirit weeks are a week of the school year where students have the opportunity to dress up based on the theme of the day. Usually, the spirit week for high schools is the week before a school dance or big event. The biggest spirit week is known to be during Homecoming Week. However, you don’t have to be in high school to get to experience the thrill of a spirit week. A lot of elementary and middle schools have their own versions during the school year.

It’s always extremely difficult to come up with each of the day’s themes. You want it to be fun, easy to do, and entertaining enough that the majority of students will want to participate. You don’t want to stick with all traditional themes, but you also don’t want to choose all new and creative themes. You have to find a balance between both. My School Dance covers a variety of ideas for each age level!

Elementary School

Since the kids in elementary school are so young, they’re willing to be more out of the ordinary. They love  the excitement that spirit week brings to the school. Some of our favorites for this age are:

• Backwards Day
• Wacky Hair Day
• Pajama Day
• Dress Like A Teacher Day
• Crazy Pattern Day
• Neon Day
• Superhero Day
• Beach Day
• Zombie Day
• Rainbow Day

Middle School

In middle school, students are more cautious about their looks and what they wear. They don’t want to seem too out there for wearing something silly. For middle school, make the themes very basic and easy for the students to do. A lot of them will not participate if the theme requires them to go all out and look funny. Some of our favorites for this age are:

• Crazy Sock Day
• Twin Day
• Jersey Day
• School Colors Day
• USA Day
• Flannel Day
• Hat Day
• College Day
• Grade Level Color Day
• Whiteout/Blackout Day

High School

In my opinion, high schoolers will do anything to stand out and look ridiculous so have fun with it! A lot of high schoolers participate in a lot of the school spirit activities so try out some creative ones with them! High schoolers are also very competitive so even “class” contests are going to be good to do! Some of our favorites for this age are:

• Decades Day
• Celebrity Look-Alike Day
• Western Day
• Senior/Elderly Day
• Toga Day
• Dress Like Your Teacher Day
• Class Colors Day
• Inside Out Day
• Ugly Sweater Day
• Luau/Beach Day

Whatever grade level, we’ve got you covered! If you want more students to give their input, have the students vote on the themes for the week! It’s important to continue doing spirit week because it allows the students to interact with one another and get creative. Try out a few of these spirit week themes and let us know which ones worked for you!

Once you’ve got your spirit week themes covered, log into your My School Dance account and begin creating your school’s Homecoming dance! If you don’t have an account, just sign your school up for free! 

Want some more Homecoming tips? Check out these blog posts: How To Spice Up Homecoming Week, 5 Ways To Increase Student Attendance At Homecoming, and 10 Hottest Homecoming Themes for 2019!

Be sure to follow us on social media too: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Instagram!

Contact:

Stephanie Hamilton

833-336-8656

September 6, 2019

Every year, students, faculty, and the community all come together to celebrate something known as Homecoming. Homecoming is a school celebration that involves the entire community participating in things such as football games, parades, tailgating, school dances, spirit week, and more! This is an exciting time for a lot of the students because they’re able to get so involved with the rest of the community. Many schools participate in the same type of events, but it’s always nice to change it up every once in awhile. I’m not saying to stop doing one of your most popular events that go along with Homecoming, but add some extra spice to them!

Spirit Week

Getting all dressed up into a specific theme brings a lot of fun and joy into the traditional school day. Continue creating fun themes, but instead make it a competition between the classes that involves giving back to the community. Choose a specific charity that means something to your school. Have each class (freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors) donate money the entire week. At the end of the week, see which class raised the most money and crown them the champions. This way you’re still participating in a fun spirit day, but also doing something good for a local charity.

Activity/Club Fair

Even though the week of Homecoming is usually busy, try to find time to create a school activity/club fair. This is great to do during Homecoming week because it’s still the beginning of the school year and everyone is in the school spirit. Have different clubs and activity groups have their own tables and explain what they do. Students can sign up for whichever they want. Do this during lunch hours so kids can come and go as they please.

Students vs Teachers

This has always been a super popular event that some schools already do. Host a students vs teachers game such as a basketball game. You can get volunteers from both teams and then have a night during Homecoming week where you host the game. Other students and faculty can come and support both their peers and their teachers. Have the winning team march in the Homecoming parade!

Activities

If you want to include more activities or events throughout the week, host a talent show, magic show, improv night, poetry reading, etc. It’s nice to have a variety of events for students and faculty to choose from and attend.

Test out some of these extra celebration techniques this year with your school’s Homecoming. Like I said, it’s important to have your usual events, but try to add some extra flare to them! The community might enjoy them even more and then make sure to attend next year.

With all of these events in place, be sure to have a proper managing platform when it comes to your school’s Homecoming dance. Homecoming is a week full of activities and events, so you don’t want to become too overwhelmed. Let My School Dance make managing your school’s Homecoming stress-free and easy on you. You can sign your school up for free now! 

If you’re looking for more tips when it comes to Homecoming check out these blogs too: 5 Ways To Increase Student Attendance At Homecoming, 10 Hottest Homecoming Themes For 2019, and Homecoming Is About Community!

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Contact:

Stephanie Hamilton

833-336-8656