By Ryan Gajarawala ’18, Staff Writer

Every year during March, Newark Academy’s 8th Grade gathers for an afternoon of dancing, pizza and a time to bond. The 8th Grade Hoedown is an event that everyone will remember. There were so many memories like the Cotton Eye Joe, Dosidoing, sashay, and the crowd around the pizza table when it was lunchtime. During the Hoedown, students learned to dosido, yellow rock, aleman left, backtrack and so many others square-dance steps. When many students went into the Hoedown, so many thought that it would be weird to dance with someone of the opposite gender and also to be square dancing. Students thought that it would be tiring, boring and lame. Many perspectives were changed on that afternoon and people began to have fun with it. People laughed when they messed up and were able to enjoy this experience that many wouldn’t be interested in if they hadn’t done it before.

Students had to dress up in traditional cowboy/cowgirl outfits with accessories such as bandannas, and cowboy/cowgirl hats. First, students danced in circles and squares for a period of time and then ended the first part to the Cotton Eye Joe. Students then rushed to eat pizza for lunch and cupcakes with an abnormal amount of black dye. After the appetites were satisfied, students went back to line dance and have a lot more fun. Students like Rebecca Slater, Class of 2018, found the overall experience very awkward. I asked her why and she said that you had to hold hands of another gender and hug your partner. She found these interactions unusual with this age group. Claire Dempsey, Class of 2018, remembers that when we started to dance, people weren’t so enthusiastic about it. Then after a while, students got into the dancing and began to enjoy it. Every year, students enter the Eighth Grade Hoedown thinking that this experience will be miserable. And every year, students tell the next year’s Eigth grade that it wasn’t miserable and they had a great time.

A lot of people I asked said that it was a great bonding experience for the whole grade. Usually people find bonding experiences to be dull but this memory was great. We have already bonded as a grade since it is now April so it was a strong start to the end of our Middle School life. I really hope people don’t see this event as a mishap or something boring. It was exciting and fun to dance with other people in our grade. As a group we can get into this with our spirit wearing all sorts of western apparel and ended up making this the best hoedown in the year of 2014 at Newark Academy. This shows that we are ready for high school. We have what it takes: the passion, the excitement, and  the motivation. As a grade we had a memorable hoedown and we have what it takes to enjoy our four years in the Newark Academy High School.