Early in March, students filled the Adams High School gym and danced along to loud, popular music, surrounded by flashing lights and music videos projected on big screens. The scene was typical of most high school dances, but one aspect of this one was different. Traditionally, the Tri-High dance serves as an unofficial Sadie’s, where the girls ask the guys to the dance.

Widely known as the Sadie Hawkins dance, it originated as a pseudo holiday that originated with the comic strip Li’l Abner. Sadie Hawkins has been around since 1934, where a woman asks a man on a date or to a dance. This tradition has spread throughout high schools, where girls are inspired to ask guys out to a dance.  

Students enjoy this tradition of girls asking guys to the dance, even if the the Tri-High dance was not officially Sadie’s. 

“I think students like it because the gender roles are reversed,” business teacher Mrs. Laure Gambaro said.

This is very different from prom and homecoming, where the boys traditionally ask the girls.

“Students really liked having two dances and Sadie’s was a good switch up from homecoming,” Mrs. Gambaro said.

Having a dance where the girls are supposed to ask the boys is a way for girls to become more comfortable with asking guys to other dances, too.

“It’s not always about the guys asking the girls,” Gambaro said. “Girls can do it too, it’s 2019.

The tradition also makes the boys feel more excited for the Sadie’s dance because the pressure of asking someone is taken off of them.

“I like how we don’t have to worry about what girl we’re going to ask and if they will say yes,” senior Neel Patel said. “Guys finally get the chance to be surprised when they get asked.”

Sadie Hawkins has been around for a long time, and it has been a lasting legacy through  high schools all around the country.

“The tradition is something that the students really like,” Gambaro said.