On Thursday, February 9 the Swampscott High School Dance Team hosted a new event they called “Dancing with the Staff.” There were fourteen performances, and fourteen teachers that participated. Although there was only one winner, all teachers and students had fun dancing on stage in front of their peers.

The Dance Team captains came up with the idea of having a fundraiser when they decided to enter a competition this year. Due to the competition quickly approaching, the Dance Team decided to have a fundraiser in order to pay for their costumes.

“Our captains decided to have the fundraiser, Alexa and Tori. They asked us all to ask a teacher, and from there we all asked our teachers,” said SHS Dance Team member Reed Flannery. “We all picked our favorite teachers pretty much because we knew that would be the most fun.”

“Most teachers said yes to doing the Dancing with the Staff,” said SHS Dance Team member Lauren Rubin. “I think they all wanted to,  they were all excited to go out and dance with us.”

While the girls on the Dance Team seemed sure that their teachers were eager to participate, the teachers credited their participation to the student’s big, sad eyes.

“Well they came to us, and they just wouldn’t take no for an answer,” said Spanish teacher Melissa Albert. “Their eyes got really big and sad, and their enthusiasm was really high. I just couldn’t say no to them.”

Although the eyes were what made the teachers partake in the show, once they started they had a lot of fun. Alejandra Baralt, SHS Spanish teacher, said she had a lot of fun rehearsing with her students and could not wait to display her dancing skills in front of the whole school.

“I was a very bad student, I probably made it very hard on my two students,” said Blum. “I had fun rehearsing it with them though. The song they picked is different, it’s a little fast. But, I was excited to go out and attempt to perform it.”

According to SHS student Stephanie Collins, it was the crazy performances like Roseanna Blum’s that made the night worth going to.

“The really funny dances, like [Mark] Schwartz’s, [Paul] Korchari’s, Blum’s, and [Lisa] Green’s, made the night so much better,” said Collins. “Without those dances it wouldn’t have been as funny. Schwartz’s and Korchari’s were just so feminine, and Green’s and Blum’s were just so crazy.”

The audience seemed to agree that the crazier, and sometimes more girly, the dance was the better and more entertaining it was. The judges, however, were focused on both entertainment and precision.

Judges Danielle Lannon (SHS Dance Team Coach), Peter Franklin (SHS English teacher), and William Bush (SHS P.E. teacher) decided on a three way tie among Green, Korchari, and Nicole Piperidis.

After the three way tie was announced, the judges declared that the teachers would have a “dance off,” and afterwards the audience would cheer for the teacher that they thought should win. Although all teachers performed well in their “dance off,” the audience chose Green as the clear favorite.

“Green was just hilarious up there, she was running everywhere and it was really funny,” said SHS student Rachel Moran. “Also, changing the lyrics from ‘I’m Sexy and I know it’ to ‘I’m a teacher and I know it’ really just topped off her whole dance. There was no beating that.”

“It was fun overall,” said Blum. “I don’t know if I would do it again. I think I paid my dues. But I would definitely recommend other teachers to do it; it’s just a really fun experience and I hope they get a whole bunch of new teachers for next year.”