For more than 12 years, Morris Hills has hosted the Freshmen Mixer as a method of introducing the ninth graders to each other and smoothing their transition from middle school to the new and exciting adventure — high school. In past years, to accomplish this goal, the Freshmen Mixer was a dance with a DJ and refreshments. Often, the result was freshmen awkwardly dancing while scoping out their classmates.

However, this year was different. In an effort to make the Freshmen Mixer livelier, members of SGA along with adviser Mr. Mein organized many different activities for the freshmen. On the evening of September 25, the doors of the cafeteria opened up to the freshmen, and eighty students poured in. Within minutes, the freshmen began to travel to different booths and interact with students they had never met before. The activities sparked a sense of friendly competition that overshadowed the anxiety and awkwardness of meeting new people at a new school that had been palpable in years past.

Still, the freshmen were shy to get on the dance floor. For the first half of the Mixer, the freshmen stayed in the activity and refreshment area. As a Freshmen Mixer attendee, Tiffany Clark said, “The games helped introduce me to people.” However, as time passed, the freshmen, with their new friends, migrated to the dance floor. “I enjoyed encouraging people to dance,” said Gisela Orama, another freshman.The activity area slowly became less crowded, and eventually, the area was deserted. In the end, it was the Macarena that brought all the freshmen together. The tune of the familiar song had all the freshmen dancing to the beat — the freshmen class had become a unified body.

Ultimately, the 2015 Morris Hills Freshmen Mixer was a success. SGA adviser Mr. Mein called it “the best freshman mixer ever” because it had a “more structured environment.” The freshmen walked in as middle school students and came out as Morris Hills Knights!