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Hanging out at the ranch dance

FishHawk Ranch sponsors an event for middle-schoolers and declares it a success when kids show up to party.

By S.I. ROSENBAUM
Published March 2, 2007

Miles Patterson was on the move.

His hair was combed, and a chain glittered around his neck. He swaggered up to a girl on the dance floor.

Then he spilled his drink on her feet.

Her friends shrieked.

"Get away from me," she said.

Strike out!

Miles shrugged. He is 12. He can't get no respect.

Ah, the middle school dance: a coming-of-age rite at the intersection of freedom and awkwardness.

This dance was different, though. It wasn't held in a cafeteria or a gym. It wasn't organized by a school or a PTA.

Instead, it was put together by a development company.

FishHawk Ranch, a development owned by Newland Communities, paid for the streamers, the disc jockey, and the heart-shaped lollipops.

Newland employees helped chaperone more than 50 students in sixth, seventh and eighth grade at the Feb. 16 event.

The idea was born when FishHawk's activities coordinator noticed that groups of middle-schoolers were hanging around the community's Park Square retail center.

A 9 p.m. curfew and patrolling security guards didn't deter them.

"We knew there wasn't enough going on for the young teens," said Jenny Palermo, FishHawk's events coordinator.

For younger children, FishHawk offers a lot of activities, she said. But middle-schoolers have different needs.

All they really wanted, she said, was a place to hang out with their friends.

"Freedom," Palermo said.

On Jan. 12, Palermo held a focus group. To get kids to attend, she provided pizza, soda, and entertainment: a magician who made balloon sculptures.

Twenty-two kids showed up. Palermo handed out a questionnaire:

Would you like to have a dance?

DJ or live band?

What kind of music?

On party night, the bass boomed in the chilly air of the FishHawk Aquatic Center's parking lot.

Kids lined up to pay the $5 cover charge and be admitted to a large rec room full of noise and possibility.

Palermo was relieved. She'd sold only a few advance tickets, so she didn't know if the dance would flop. She said she knew middle-schoolers tended to make decisions at the last minute, waiting to see what their friends would do.

But the dance was a success.

Sydney Brewer and Megan Hickman wrestled, squealing. Megan, 12, liked a boy. Sydney, also 12, was trying to force her friend in his direction. They ended up piled on the floor.

The two spent most of the night dancing with their friends in a small knot of girls.

Most kids danced in groups. Slow dances cleared the floor - no one wanted to brave the challenge of pair-dancing - so the DJ stuck to fast songs, punk rock and hip-hop, that kids could dance to in groups. At one point he taught the room how to do the Electric Slide.

When they took a break from dancing, the middle-schoolers went outside for a breath of cold air.

Aaron Benton, 11, high-fived his friends.

"She said no!" he gloated. "POLITELY!"

S.I. Rosenbaum can be reached at 661-2442 or srosenbaum@sptimes.com.

[Last modified March 1, 2007, 07:52:19]