Senior Rae Antenucci says she looking forward to Saturday’s big dance, especially because of the music that will be played.

“[They play] a lot of better music,” Antenucci said. “It’s still censored, but it’s stuff you can dance to.”

Antenucci isn’t the only student anticipating the Project Graduation-sponsored dance scheduled  from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Eau Gallie Civic Center.

“What makes it fun for students is that we get the chance to mingle and have fun with our friends from our school and out of school without worrying about the administration down our back,” Student Government Association President Bianca Taraschi said. “Also, we get to have the music of our choice.”

Tickets will be sold in the cafeteria Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during lunch hours. The cost is $10 in advance, or $12 at the door. The dress for the dance is casual.

“High school students will like it because it’s not a formal dance,” Project Graduation organizer and parent volunteer Sue Gregory said. “There are a lot more rules that the school district has to go by, and we just want this to be a fun dance.”

In addition, students from other area schools are invited to attend.

“They can bring friends from other schools as long as they’re high school students,” Gregory said. “You can even bring older friends, but we just ask that everyone be under age 21.”

The dance doesn’t require the standard permission forms necessary for students outside of West Shore to attend a school dance.

“The only thing that we ask is if you have friends who you’re going to have come with you that you all kind of come at the same time,” Gregory said.

So what else makes this dance different from school-sponsored events?

“This is our fourth annual dance, and it is not a school-sponsored dance, so that’s what everybody tends to like about it the most—is that we’re a little bit more flexible in our rules,” Gregory said. “We don’t have the tons of chaperones and we don’t have the dress code that the school has and the restrictions, so it’s more of a fun dance.”

Gregory also says she’s sure the DJ will strike the right note.

“We have the DJ, and it’s the same band that they got last year,” Gregory said. “People seemed to like [this DJ] a lot better than the previous two years.”

Senior class communications director Grace Beck helps out with Project Graduation.

“[Project Graduation is an] organization headed by Sue Gregory and Kathy Whaley,” Beck said. “[It] raises money to put on a night for the seniors after graduation to keep them from doing drugs or drinking alcohol and to keep them off the roads late at night.”

Senior Bianca Taraschi describes the Project Graduation celebration that the dance will raise money for.

“We all get to go and be together and have one final night as the Class of 2012,” Taraschi said. “[We] just do a bunch of fun things, such as be involved in raffles to win things for our dorms and even win cash.”

Beck hopes for a good turnout with this year’s fundraising, and she details aspects of the graduation night that the dance will benefit.

“[You could] win prizes like microwaves, iPods, [and] college essentials,” Beck said. It’s always a lock-in until 5 or 6 in the morning, but if you want to sleep there are places for that there. There are always games, activities, and music.”

The upcoming dance is one of many fundraisers Project Graduation has put on this year.

“We had the golf tournament at the beginning of the year—that was another big fundraiser for us. We [also] sold spirit cards,” Gregory said.

By Natalia Marmol