On Friday, October 26, Hawaii Baptist Academy held its first ever Sock Hop.
That evening, approximately 100 students from grades 9 through 12 participated in a 1950s themed dance in the gym. Dressed in era-appropriate costumes and hairstyles, attendees enjoyed burgers, hot dogs, and potato wedges for dinner, and then hopped onto the dance floor with their socks on for a night of Fifties style music and dancing.
Lights and ribbons hung from across the whole gym and tables were decorated with Fifties themed decorations, while the center of the gym was designated as the dance floor. However, students not in the mood to dance were not left out, as various games and activities such as a Fifties themed photo booth were available for students to enjoy. Freshman and student council representative Jenna Serikaku led one such game: “I was able to host the trivia game with Kellen Takatsuka,” she said. “Other than that, I ate lots of the food, danced with my friends, and got to know some people who went.”
This year, Sock Hop replaced the annually held Skatie Hawkins. However, girls were still encouraged to ask the guys out to the Sock Hop as they did for Skatie Hawkins in previous years. Senior student and student council corresponding secretary Makenzie Cammack explained the reason for the switch: “We decided to do a Sock Hop so that we could not only have the culture of the Fifties exposed to all the students, but so we could also have a fun time in a different way that people normally can’t have in other high schools,” she said.
Cammack and Keiko Sanders began the evening by teaching people how to do the Hand Jive, a dance popular in the 1950s and demonstrated in the popular musical Grease. The Hand Jive consists of a series of complicated hand movements performed to the beat of a drum. Attendees then participated in a Hand Jive dance off, where a group of students competed to see who could dance the longest. If a student stopped dancing or didn’t have enough energy, he or she would be eliminated and asked to leave the floor. The last two students left were the champions and received a crown and a prize.
A highlight for many was seeing their friends in their Fifties style costumes. Freshman student Maya Liao enjoyed “arriving to the event and seeing all her friends dressed like the cast of Grease…. and seeing how adorable everything looked.” Serikaku did not enjoy every aspect of the night, however. “The thing that I enjoyed least was that it was only for two hours,” she said. “I wish that it could have been longer. Time really flies when you’re having fun!”
Overall, Liao enjoyed the Sock Hop immensely: “I just enjoyed spending a night out with friends. But having a Fifties themed spin on that… just added to the experience… I would definitely go to the Fifties event again,” she said.
