As February approaches, Eagle High students aren’t just preparing for a dance, they’re preparing for the moment before the dance. The Sweethearts dance’s proposals have become their own tradition, filled with posters, group coordination and the nervous excitement that makes the whole event feel bigger than just a night out. For many students, the proposal is half the fun.
For sophomore June Niederhauser, asking early was the perfect strategy.
“I did ask [sophomore] Tyler [Graham] to Sweethearts, and the reason why I did it so early in January is because for homecoming, it’s really, really hard to find a dress,” she said. With homecoming crowds and lastminute scrambling still fresh in Niederhauser’s mind, she wasn’t about to repeat the chaos. However, her initial plan wasn’t to ask over a month before the actual dance.
When Graham teased her that someone else might ask him first, she took the hint.
“So, one time when he said that in January… I was like, okay. And so I did it that weekend… I asked him on Jan. 16.,” Niederhauser said.
Her proposal came together the way many high school masterpieces do: with a poster board, a pun and some Pinterest inspiration.
“All good ideas come from Pinterest,” Niederhauser said. “Pinterest is the epitome of all ideas.”
She settled on one of Graham’s favorite foods, pizza, as her proposal theme. With a hot Costco pizza in hand, she surprised Graham in the school parking lot with a sign that read, “Roses are red, pizza sauce is too… be my date for Sweethearts round number two?” Even though half the pizza was eaten by friends, the moment was still exactly what Niederhauser had hoped for.
Sophomore Zoe Bronner coordinated her proposal with someone else. She and her friend, sophomore Juliet Thrall, planned a double proposal, each helping the other surprise their dates: sophomore Cyrus Ravenscraft for Bronner and sophomore Skip Nowell for Thrall.
“We told each other’s dates they were helping us ask the other one, so neither of them knew they were getting asked,” Bronner said. “And then we both asked at the same time.”
Their group is now planning a Sweethearts outing, complete with dinner and an escape room. They’ll be going in a group with Niederhauser and Graham. One idea was quickly vetoed: go karts. Bronner laughed when it was suggested and said, “No. It’s not happening.” No one in the group besides Graham wanted to race go karts before going to the dance, so his idea was overruled.
For sophomore Emma Ada, her proposal to junior Aidan Marshall was personal and musical.
“I went to his house one night with a speaker and a poster that said, ‘Don’t leave me High and Dry at Sweethearts!’ and blasted the song ‘High and Dry’ by Radiohead, because it’s ‘our song,’” she said.
But because Ada is performing in Eagle High’s production of “Anastasia”, she and Marshall aren’t able to attend the actual dance. Instead, they created their own version. “We’re going to a ‘second’ Sweethearts at our friend’s house next weekend [Feb. 28],” she said.
Across all three proposals, one theme seemed to stand out: Sweethearts proposals aren’t just about the dance, they’re about the creativity, planning and shared excitement leading up to it. Whether it’s a pizza themed poster, a synchronized proposal or a Radiohead reference, each proposal reflects the personality of the students behind it.
For Niederhauser, it’s simple: don’t overthink it.
“Always go for it. Don’t ever hesitate [when] asking someone to do something,” she said. “The worst that can happen is they say no… and then you take your sign to the next person and move on.”
And if the proposal does work out… well, that’s where the memories start.
“You never know what just asking someone to do something fun can lead to,” Niederhauser said. “If things don’t work out, oh well—you were there for the experience. You get the lore. And if it all works out, then everything is great.”
As Sweethearts approaches, Eagle High students are proving that the proposal—whether simple, elaborate or somewhere in between—is its own kind of tradition. One filled with nerves, laughter and the kind of stories that get retold long after the posters are recycled and the pizza boxes are thrown away.
