By Gloria Cueva| Staff Writer

Prom has been the only thing on juniors and seniors minds since the theme was announced in January. Posters, ticket prices, and the talk of dresses people were going to wear was all that was being heard around the school, so what about the freshman and sophomores that don’t have the opportunity to go to prom?

“The concept of The Boots and Bling dance came from juniors and seniors having their dance, and the last dance freshman and sophomores had was Homecoming, which was so long ago,” said Jennifer Jones, the student council sponsor here at Johnson.

Jones with the help of student council came up with The Boots and Bling dance to help ensure that the freshman and sophomores don’t feel left out.

“We wanted to do something for them that is just their own, so that they can have something to call their own, like prom is for juniors and seniors,” said Jones.

The student council came up with some cool ideas to make sure the freshman and sophomores enjoy the dance, and hopefully continue the tradition in the coming years.

“This dance is very inexpensive. We hired the same DJ from homecoming, and we have character cutouts for people to take pictures with,” said Jones. “So we hope that everyone has fun, and that they enjoy themselves, because that is what it is all about.”

The eagerness from some can start to be heard around the campus.

“I’m not a big dance guy, but I’m going, although I just found out about the dance a couple days ago,” said freshman Joshua Rodriguez.

Being a freshmen means everything is new, which usually means people want to try everything.

“I think the idea of an underclassman dance is really cool,” said Rodriguez. “Since I’ve started high school all you here is that the upperclassmen get all the perks, so it’s cool they’re giving us our own thing.”

Since this is a new addition to Johnson high school, it should be interesting to see how this turns out.

“It’s cool to say we are the first underclassman that get to have this dance, because if they keep the underclassmen dance going, it will be cool to see what it’s like when I’m a senior,” said Rodriguez. “And we can tell the upperclassmen it’s something we got to do that they didn’t.”

Prom is something juniors and seniors have had to wait for, it’s a dance that is looked at as saying that they are growing up.

“Since I got the chance to go I see why some people aren’t happy that underclassmen are getting their own dance,” said sophomore, Laney Lawson. “Prom is seen as a rite of passage thing in high school. Since upperclassmen have to wait for their dance, then underclassmen should wait for their turn too.”

The Boots and Bling dance, however, is not meant to take the place of prom.

“This dance is just to let people have fun,” said  Jones. “It’s just so everyone gets the same amount of treatment so to speak.”

April, 5th will determine if this dances becomes a long lasting tradition or not at Johnson High School.

“It would be nice to see a good turnout,” said Jones. “It will be beneficial for the school, and a good thing for the students as well.”