Why do we do it? Why does the Parent Group spend countless hours planning, organizing, implementing, and sponsoring the dances at Lutz? Here’s why:

No matter how well things go or if they get completely out-of-control and chaotic, in the end all that truly matters is that the student’s had a memorable night and from the responses I’ve received, I believe that mission was accomplished.

The Halloween dance would not have been possible without all the phenomenal volunteers that stepped up to help plan, organize, set-up, work, and clean up for this event. Additionally, all the cider, donuts, and water were donated by generous Lutz parents/families and all the apples were donated by Verellen Orchards. Even some of the decorations were lent to us, brought in and set-up by dedicated families. A huge THANK YOU to each and every one of them.

Besides the volunteers that signed up to help out, there were more teachers/staff than I can list that pitched in and joined in the excitement. They are truly an integral part of these types of functions. Without their continued support and dedication, the Parent Group would be lost.

Finally, it was overwhelming how many families donated candy and treats for the students Trick-or-Treating at the end of the evening. Throwing this at you the day before the dance, our expectations were to have maybe 7-10 treats per student. Well, I am so glad you proved us wrong. We had at least 25 parents, staff, and teachers all armed with bags of 150+ treats that had been donated for the students to walk past and collect their wares. At one point we thought we wouldn’t have enough volunteers to pass out everything we had, but then the bleachers cleared and we found ourselves with more volunteers than treats. I can’t say I’m sorry about that. It is heartwarming to know we can count on the Lutz families to pitch in and pick up the slack when we really need it. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!

For the first time having this finale’ to the Halloween dance, it went pretty well. Organized? To a point. Fun? The students certainly thought so. Chaotic? ABSOLUTELY!!! But remember:

“Chaos does not mean total disorder. Chaos means a multiplicity of possibilities. Chaos is from the ancient Greek words that means a thing that is birthed from the void. And it was about that which is possible, not about disorder.” ~ Jok Church

We now have a foundation from which to build on and hopefully in 10 or 20 years we’ll have it down pat! Okay, hopefully not that long, but when I asked my son Zack if he thought the trick-or-treating was confusing and messy (terms he understands for chaotic, stressful, and disorganized), he hugged me and said “It was AWESOME.” Nuff said!

A special thank you also to Nino Salvaggio’s for donating the bags for the trick-or-treating. Their policy is to fill out a form, submit it to management, and then in 7-10 days they will respond with a yes or no. Pleading my case to them the day before the dance, the staff hand-walked the form through the hoops and in less than 30 minutes we had more than 150 bags for the students. That was the one aspect of trick-or-treating we needed before we could even begin to ask for treats.

In closing I’d like to say that being my last year with the Parent Group my goal was to try and make this first dance of the 2019/20 school year one to remember. Well, I think I did that, perhaps not quite the way I had hoped in some regards, but nevertheless, at the end of the day I think the students had a good time and that is all that truly matters.

Thank you everyone who helped support this event by volunteering, donating, and participating. You are why we can do what we do.

Thank you,

Lisa Dukicin