• Dance to the music.Boom Box - Vector dance graphic image by Andrew Brown from Fotolia.com
  
  High school dances are one of the most effective ways for students to meet new friends in a safe, well-structured environment. Although they are sometimes portrayed in films like Carrie as being a snake pit filled with cruel pranksters, the reality is that most high school dances are much closer to the high school dance scene in Freaks & Geeks in which the kids try in vain to keep pace with Styx's "Come Sail Away." High school dances can also include a number of fun activities that don't involve slow dancing to cheesy prog rock ballads.
  
  

Blast from the Past Costume Contest

• Costumes are fun.flamenco man image by yann&bernard Anceze from Fotolia.com
  
  Students can dress up in iconic costumes from a particular decade like the 1920s or 1950s. This allows the students to display some creativity, and it breaks the ice because it gives everyone something to talk about at the dance. Prizes can be awarded for best costume, and the music can be themed to fit the particular decade. For example, a 1950s sock hop theme could play a lot of Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry records and maybe give out a copy of "Rebel Without a Cause" for the best costume winner.
  
  

Dance Dance Revolution

• Get the party started.Dance wih Me image by Andrew Brown from Fotolia.com
  
  Dance Dance Revolution is a popular fitness video game that allows participants to stand on a dance platform and sync up their dance steps to a variety of musical styles using a video screen and highlighted sections of the dance platform itself that guide you where to step. A Dance Dance Revolution contest would be more relevant to contemporary high school kids than slow dancing to a Luther Vandross song.
  
  

American Idol karaoke

• Make it a karaoke night.macro shot of a lady singer image by Peter Baxter from Fotolia.com
  
  American Idol style karaoke is much like regular karaoke except that students can also fill out ballots for fun categories, such as funniest performance, best duet and future Superstar, that are tallied up and the winners announced at the end of the night. Categories should be predetermined by teachers and chaperones to avoid potentially inappropriate write-in ballots.