Dance the night away

(Photo submitted) A dance for Spencer and Clay Central-Everly high school students will be held Friday night at the Clay County Regional Events Center in Spencer

Spencer and Clay Central-Everly (CCE) high school students are invited to put their dancing shoes on for a dance set to unite the two schools' youth.

The dance, which will be held Friday night from 9 p.m. until 12 a.m. Saturday at the Clay County Regional Events Center, was initiated by several Spencer High School students who broached the possibility of having a dance this time of year -- between homecoming and Valentine's Day -- with Positively Spencer Youth (PSY) representatives.

Their request grew into a collaborative effort when Scott Hallgren, executive director of the Clay County Regional Events Center, approached PSY about the possibility of hosting a dance for high school students at the Spencer facility. Students from neighboring CCE were invited to attend soon after.

"Some of the high school students on our planning committee thought it would be a good idea to invite students from other school districts, similar to the 4-H dance held at the (Clay County) Fair every year, which draws students from all different communities in the area," said Amy Simpson, the PSY director. "We decided maybe a little bit easier transition into that would be to collaborate with one other school district and see how that went. So, we contacted Positively Maverick Youth, out of the Clay Central-Everly school district, to see if they would be interested in collaborating with us."

Friday's dance will mark the first time PSY, which was organized in the spring of 2005, and PMY, organized in the fall of 2007, will collaborate on an event targeting area youth.

"One of the focuses for PSY has been to really change the attitudes in our community about substance use and abuse. Part of that is education for students, parents and community members about the dangers of substance use -- especially for youth, when the brain is continuing to develop and grow. The other piece of that is, as we change the attitudes and we help educate people, that we have to work together as a community to provide opportunities for kids to do healthy, safe things and activities. So, a real focus of what we're trying to do is make sure that we, as a community, are providing opportunities for our youth to make good choices and to be safe and to be healthy," Simpson said. "This (dance) is also a good opportunity for adults in our community to come together and volunteer their time to show the kids we're listening to what they're saying they want to do and we're going to spend some time to help meet their needs."

While both Spencer and CCE have home basketball games scheduled Friday night, high school students and adults alike are encouraged to attend the dance following.

"We've requested to have school personnel from both school districts present at the dance. We also will have adult chaperones from both schools present at the dance," Simpson said. " ... If any adults in the community would be interested in helping, we would absolutely find something for them to do."

Tom Reburn, of Mickey 6 Productions in Storm Lake, will serve as Friday night's disc jockey.

Snacks will be available for purchase at the events center concession stand.

The $5 admission fee will cover costs associated with the DJ and facility. Any leftover proceeds will be earmarked for future PSY activities. For more information about the dance, contact Amy Simpson at 580-7233.